Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Inchcape plc (LON:INCH) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. 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. This means that investors who purchase Inchcape's shares on or after the 5th of August will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 3rd of September.

The company's next dividend payment will be UK£0.064 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of UK£0.13 per share. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Inchcape has a trailing yield of approximately 1.5% on its current stock price of £8.505. 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 Inchcape can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

See our latest analysis for Inchcape

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. Inchcape paid out more than half (70%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Inchcape generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. What's good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 6.9% of its cash flow last year.

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?

Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. With that in mind, we're discomforted by Inchcape's 14% per annum decline in earnings in the past five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Inchcape has delivered an average of 6.8% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. That's interesting, but the combination of a growing dividend despite declining earnings can typically only be achieved by paying out more of the company's profits. This can be valuable for shareholders, but it can't go on forever.