Readers hoping to buy CareTech Holdings PLC (LON:CTH) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. You can purchase shares before the 22nd of October in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 23rd of November.

CareTech Holdings's upcoming dividend is UK£0.04 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of UK£0.12 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that CareTech Holdings has a trailing yield of 2.6% on the current share price of £4.57. 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 check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

See our latest analysis for CareTech Holdings

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. CareTech Holdings is paying out an acceptable 54% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Over the last year it paid out 54% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

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

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks with flat earnings can still be attractive dividend payers, but it is important to be more conservative with your approach and demand a greater margin for safety when it comes to dividend sustainability. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. It's not encouraging to see that CareTech Holdings's earnings are effectively flat over the past five years. We'd take that over an earnings decline any day, but in the long run, the best dividend stocks all grow their earnings per share.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the last 10 years, CareTech Holdings has lifted its dividend by approximately 9.5% a year on average.

To Sum It Up

Is CareTech Holdings an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? While earnings per share are flat, at least CareTech Holdings has not committed itself to an unsustainable dividend, with its earnings and cashflow payout ratios within reasonable bounds. Bottom line: CareTech Holdings has some unfortunate characteristics that we think could lead to sub-optimal outcomes for dividend investors.