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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 Deutsche Börse AG (ETR:DB1) is about to go ex-dividend in just three days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Therefore, if you purchase Deutsche Börse's shares on or after the 17th of May, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 19th of May.
The company's next dividend payment will be €3.60 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed €3.60 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Deutsche Börse has a trailing yield of 2.1% on the current share price of €174. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Deutsche Börse's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to investigate whether Deutsche Börse can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
Check out our latest analysis for Deutsche Börse
Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Fortunately Deutsche Börse's payout ratio is modest, at just 43% of profit.
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. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Fortunately for readers, Deutsche Börse's earnings per share have been growing at 12% a year for the past five years.
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, 10 years ago, Deutsche Börse has lifted its dividend by approximately 4.6% a year on average. Earnings per share have been growing much quicker than dividends, potentially because Deutsche Börse is keeping back more of its profits to grow the business.
The Bottom Line
Should investors buy Deutsche Börse for the upcoming dividend? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. Deutsche Börse ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.