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Readers hoping to buy Orient Cement Limited (NSE:ORIENTCEM) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. Investors can purchase shares before the 24th of July in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 9th of August.

Orient Cement's next dividend payment will be ₹0.75 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed ₹0.75 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Orient Cement has a trailing yield of 0.7% on the current share price of ₹104.35. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Orient Cement's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

See our latest analysis for Orient Cement

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. That's why it's good to see Orient Cement paying out a modest 32% of its earnings. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Luckily it paid out just 9.6% of its free cash flow last year.

It's positive to see that Orient Cement's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

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

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Orient Cement's earnings per share have fallen at approximately 14% a year over the previous 5 years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Orient Cement has seen its dividend decline 13% per annum on average over the past 5 years, which is not great to see. It's never nice to see earnings and dividends falling, but at least management has cut the dividend rather than potentially risk the company's health in an attempt to maintain it.