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 i3 Energy Plc (LON:I3E) is about to go ex-dividend in just four 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. Therefore, if you purchase i3 Energy's shares on or after the 13th of October, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 4th of November.

The company's next dividend payment will be UK£0.0014 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed UK£0.017 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that i3 Energy has a trailing yield of 6.2% on the current share price of £0.2745. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether i3 Energy has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for i3 Energy

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. i3 Energy is paying out just 14% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether i3 Energy generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It paid out 15% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low.

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 consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. It's encouraging to see i3 Energy has grown its earnings rapidly, up 64% a year for the past five years. With earnings per share growing rapidly and the company sensibly reinvesting almost all of its profits within the business, i3 Energy looks like a promising growth company.