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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 Beteiligungs AG (ETR:DBAN) is about to go ex-dividend in just 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 important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Therefore, if you purchase Deutsche Beteiligungs' shares on or after the 23rd of February, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 27th of February.
The company's upcoming dividend is €1.00 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of €1.00 per share to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Deutsche Beteiligungs has a trailing yield of 3.6% on the current share price of €27.80. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Deutsche Beteiligungs'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 Deutsche Beteiligungs
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. That's why it's good to see Deutsche Beteiligungs paying out a modest 32% of its earnings.
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?
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 earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Deutsche Beteiligungs, with earnings per share up 9.4% on average over the last five years.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Deutsche Beteiligungs's dividend payments per share have declined at 1.8% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring.
To Sum It Up
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Deutsche Beteiligungs? It has been growing its earnings per share somewhat in recent years, although it reinvests more than half its earnings in the business, which could suggest there are some growth projects that have not yet reached fruition. Deutsche Beteiligungs 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.