Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Therefore, if you purchase WSFS Financial's shares on or after the 4th of August, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 19th of August.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.15 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.60 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, WSFS Financial has a trailing yield of approximately 1.3% on its current stock price of $47.72. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether WSFS Financial's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

View our latest analysis for WSFS Financial

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. WSFS Financial is paying out just 17% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events.

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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. This is why it's a relief to see WSFS Financial earnings per share are up 5.1% per annum over the last five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, WSFS Financial has increased its dividend at approximately 14% a year on average. 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.