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 YeboYethu (RF) Limited (JSE:YYLBEE) is about to go ex-dividend in just three 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 important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Accordingly, YeboYethu (RF) investors that purchase the stock on or after the 5th of July will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 10th of July.

The company's next dividend payment will be R0.91 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of R1.61 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that YeboYethu (RF) has a trailing yield of 4.7% on the current share price of ZAR34. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether YeboYethu (RF)'s dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

Check out our latest analysis for YeboYethu (RF)

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. YeboYethu (RF)'s dividend is not well covered by earnings, as the company lost money last year. This is not a sustainable state of affairs, so it would be worth investigating if earnings are expected to recover.

Click here to see how much of its profit YeboYethu (RF) paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. YeboYethu (RF) was unprofitable last year and, unfortunately, the general trend suggests its earnings have been in decline over the last five years, making us wonder if the dividend is sustainable at all.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. YeboYethu (RF) has delivered an average of 6.2% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past six years of dividend payments.

We update our analysis on YeboYethu (RF) every 24 hours, so you can always get the latest insights on its financial health, here.