It looks like Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:MSBI) is about to go ex-dividend in the next four 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 of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Thus, you can purchase Midland States Bancorp's shares before the 16th of August in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 23rd of August.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.31 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$1.24 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Midland States Bancorp has a trailing yield of 5.9% on the current share price of US$21.10. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

View our latest analysis for Midland States Bancorp

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Midland States Bancorp is paying out an acceptable 62% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies.

Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Midland States Bancorp, with earnings per share up 3.6% on average over the last five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Midland States Bancorp has delivered 7.0% dividend growth per year on average over the past eight years. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.