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 Forbo Holding AG (VTX:FORN) is about to go ex-dividend in just two 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. Meaning, you will need to purchase Forbo Holding's shares before the 10th of April to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 12th of April.

The company's next dividend payment will be CHF025.00 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed CHF25.00 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Forbo Holding has a trailing yield of 2.2% on the current stock price of CHF01124.00. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

See our latest analysis for Forbo Holding

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. Forbo Holding paid out a comfortable 34% of its profit last year. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. It distributed 28% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.

It's positive to see that Forbo Holding'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 shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. So we're not too excited that Forbo Holding's earnings are down 2.5% a year over the past five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, Forbo Holding has lifted its dividend by approximately 6.0% a year on average.