Fiera Capital Corporation (TSE:FSZ) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. 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. In other words, investors can purchase Fiera Capital's shares before the 19th of November in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 19th of December.

The company's next dividend payment will be CA$0.216 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of CA$0.86 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Fiera Capital has a trailing yield of approximately 8.7% on its current stock price of CA$9.95. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Fiera Capital

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fiera Capital paid out 142% of profit in the past year, which we think is typically not sustainable unless there are mitigating characteristics such as unusually strong cash flow or a large cash balance.

When the dividend payout ratio is high, as it is in this case, the dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut in the future.

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

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. It's encouraging to see Fiera Capital has grown its earnings rapidly, up 42% a year for the past five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Fiera Capital has delivered 7.0% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.