It looks like Mandarin Oriental International Limited (SGX:M04) is about to go ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. 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. Accordingly, Mandarin Oriental International investors that purchase the stock on or after the 21st of March will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of May.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.035 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.07 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Mandarin Oriental International stock has a trailing yield of around 4.6% on the current share price of US$1.53. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Mandarin Oriental International's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Mandarin Oriental International lost money last year, so the fact that it's paying a dividend is certainly disconcerting. There might be a good reason for this, but we'd want to look into it further before getting comfortable. With the recent loss, it's important to check if the business generated enough cash to pay its dividend. If Mandarin Oriental International didn't generate enough cash to pay the dividend, then it must have either paid from cash in the bank or by borrowing money, neither of which is sustainable in the long term. It paid out 16% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low.

Click here to see how much of its profit Mandarin Oriental International paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Mandarin Oriental International was unprofitable last year and, unfortunately, the general trend suggests its earnings have been in decline over the last five years, making us wonder if the dividend is sustainable at all.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. It looks like the Mandarin Oriental International dividends are largely the same as they were 10 years ago. When earnings are declining yet the dividends are flat, typically the company is either paying out a higher portion of its earnings, or paying out of cash or debt on the balance sheet, neither of which is ideal.

Get our latest analysis on Mandarin Oriental International's balance sheet health here.

The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Mandarin Oriental International? First, it's not great to see the company paying a dividend despite being loss-making over the last year. On the plus side, the dividend was covered by free cash flow." Bottom line: Mandarin Oriental International has some unfortunate characteristics that we think could lead to sub-optimal outcomes for dividend investors.

Although, if you're still interested in Mandarin Oriental International and want to know more, you'll find it very useful to know what risks this stock faces. For example, Mandarin Oriental International has 2 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.

Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.