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 German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) is about to go ex-dividend in just four days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. Accordingly, German American Bancorp investors that purchase the stock on or after the 8th of November will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 20th of November.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.27 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.08 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, German American Bancorp has a trailing yield of 2.7% on the current stock price of US$40.34. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether German American Bancorp's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to investigate whether German American Bancorp can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

View our latest analysis for German American Bancorp

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. That's why it's good to see German American Bancorp paying out a modest 39% of its earnings.

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

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. 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 German American Bancorp, with earnings per share up 6.8% on average over the last five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the last 10 years, German American Bancorp has lifted its dividend by approximately 10% a year on average. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.