Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four 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. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Meaning, you will need to purchase Exxon Mobil's shares before the 14th of November to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 10th of December.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.99 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$3.80 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Exxon Mobil has a trailing yield of 3.1% on the current share price of US$121.11. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

View our latest analysis for Exxon Mobil

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Exxon Mobil paid out a comfortable 47% of its profit last year. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 49% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.

It's positive to see that Exxon Mobil's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

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

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. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Exxon Mobil, with earnings per share up 9.5% on average over the last five years. Management have been reinvested more than half of the company's earnings within the business, and the company has been able to grow earnings with this retained capital. Organisations that reinvest heavily in themselves typically get stronger over time, which can bring attractive benefits such as stronger earnings and dividends.