Readers hoping to buy Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPBI) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. 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 important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Accordingly, Pacific Premier Bancorp investors that purchase the stock on or after the 5th of August will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 12th of August.

The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.33 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.32 per share to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Pacific Premier Bancorp has a trailing yield of 4.9% on the current share price of US$27.06. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to investigate whether Pacific Premier Bancorp can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

Check out our latest analysis for Pacific Premier Bancorp

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Pacific Premier Bancorp paid a dividend last year despite being unprofitable. This might be a one-off event, but it's not a sustainable state of affairs in the long run.

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

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Pacific Premier Bancorp reported a loss last year, and the general trend suggests its earnings have also been declining in recent years, making us wonder if the dividend is at risk.

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, six years ago, Pacific Premier Bancorp has lifted its dividend by approximately 7.0% a year on average.

Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Pacific Premier Bancorp's financial health, by checking our visualisation of its financial health, here.

To Sum It Up

Is Pacific Premier Bancorp worth buying for its dividend? First, it's not great to see the company paying a dividend despite being loss-making over the last year. Worse, the general trend in its earnings looks negative in recent years. All things considered, we're not optimistic about its dividend prospects, and would be inclined to leave it on the shelf for now.