Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Southern States Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSBK) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Accordingly, Southern States Bancshares investors that purchase the stock on or after the 1st of February will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of February.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.09 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.36 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Southern States Bancshares has a trailing yield of 1.3% on the current stock price of US$27.58. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Southern States Bancshares

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Southern States Bancshares has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 9.4% of its income after tax.

Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.

Click here to see how much of its profit Southern States Bancshares paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. It's encouraging to see Southern States Bancshares has grown its earnings rapidly, up 25% a year for the past five years.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Southern States Bancshares's dividend payments are effectively flat on where they were two years ago.

To Sum It Up

Should investors buy Southern States Bancshares for the upcoming dividend? Companies like Southern States Bancshares that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings, are usually reinvesting heavily in their business. This strategy can add significant value to shareholders over the long term - as long as it's done without issuing too many new shares. Overall, Southern States Bancshares looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.