Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Pulse Seismic Inc. (TSE:PSD) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Thus, you can purchase Pulse Seismic's shares before the 14th of August in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 21st of August.

The company's next dividend payment will be CA$0.065 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed CA$0.06 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Pulse Seismic has a trailing yield of 2.4% on the current share price of CA$2.50. 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! As a result, readers should always check whether Pulse Seismic has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for Pulse Seismic

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Pulse Seismic is paying out just 23% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Over the last year, it paid out more than three-quarters (81%) of its free cash flow generated, which is fairly high and may be starting to limit reinvestment in the business.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

Click here to see how much of its profit Pulse Seismic 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. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. It's encouraging to see Pulse Seismic has grown its earnings rapidly, up 39% a year for the past five years.