Ramsdens Holdings PLC (LON:RFX) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. 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. Accordingly, Ramsdens Holdings investors that purchase the stock on or after the 15th of February will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 22nd of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be UK￡0.071 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of UK￡0.10 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Ramsdens Holdings stock has a trailing yield of around 5.3% on the current share price of UK￡1.945. 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! So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

View our latest analysis for Ramsdens Holdings

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately Ramsdens Holdings's payout ratio is modest, at just 42% of profit.

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 how much of its profit Ramsdens Holdings 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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. This is why it's a relief to see Ramsdens Holdings earnings per share are up 9.0% per annum over the last five years.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, seven years ago, Ramsdens Holdings has lifted its dividend by approximately 22% a year on average. 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.

Final Takeaway

Is Ramsdens Holdings worth buying for its dividend? Ramsdens Holdings has seen its earnings per share grow slowly in recent years, and the company reinvests more than half of its profits in the business, which generally bodes well for its future prospects. We think this is a pretty attractive combination, and would be interested in investigating Ramsdens Holdings more closely.