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 Phibro Animal Health Corporation (NASDAQ:PAHC) is about to go ex-dividend in just four 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. 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. Thus, you can purchase Phibro Animal Health's shares before the 5th of March in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 27th of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.12 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.48 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Phibro Animal Health has a trailing yield of 3.7% on the current share price of US$12.89. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Phibro Animal Health's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

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. Phibro Animal Health paid out 131% of profit in the past year, which we think is typically not sustainable unless there are mitigating characteristics such as unusually strong cash flow or a large cash balance. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Phibro Animal Health generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Over the last year it paid out 53% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.

It's good to see that while Phibro Animal Health's dividends were not covered by profits, at least they are affordable from a cash perspective. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Very few companies are able to sustainably pay dividends larger than their reported earnings.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Phibro Animal Health's earnings per share have fallen at approximately 26% a year over the previous five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Phibro Animal Health has delivered 1.8% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years.

Final Takeaway

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Phibro Animal Health? It's never fun to see a company's earnings per share in retreat. What's more, Phibro Animal Health is paying out a majority of its earnings and over half its free cash flow. It's hard to say if the business has the financial resources and time to turn things around without cutting the dividend. With the way things are shaping up from a dividend perspective, we'd be inclined to steer clear of Phibro Animal Health.

With that in mind though, if the poor dividend characteristics of Phibro Animal Health don't faze you, it's worth being mindful of the risks involved with this business. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Phibro Animal Health (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) you should know about.

A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.

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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.