Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:G1A) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Therefore, if you purchase GEA Group's shares on or after the 28th of April, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 3rd of May.

The company's upcoming dividend is €0.95 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of €0.95 per share to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, GEA Group has a trailing yield of approximately 2.2% on its current stock price of €43.5. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to investigate whether GEA Group can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

Check out our latest analysis for GEA Group

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. That's why it's good to see GEA Group paying out a modest 45% of its earnings. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether GEA Group generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Over the last year it paid out 60% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.

It's positive to see that GEA Group'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?

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 earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. For this reason, we're glad to see GEA Group's earnings per share have risen 11% per annum over the last five years. GEA Group has an average payout ratio which suggests a balance between growing earnings and rewarding shareholders. Given the quick rate of earnings per share growth and current level of payout, there may be a chance of further dividend increases in the future.