Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Laurus Labs Limited (NSE:LAURUSLABS) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four 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. 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. Meaning, you will need to purchase Laurus Labs' shares before the 2nd of November to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 19th of November.

The company's next dividend payment will be ₹0.40 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of ₹1.60 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Laurus Labs has a trailing yield of 0.4% on the current stock price of ₹356.8. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! So we need to investigate whether Laurus Labs can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

Check out our latest analysis for Laurus Labs

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Laurus Labs paid out just 23% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 37% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.

It's positive to see that Laurus Labs'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?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Fortunately for readers, Laurus Labs's earnings per share have been growing at 17% a year for the past five years. Earnings per share have been growing rapidly and the company is retaining a majority of its earnings within the business. This will make it easier to fund future growth efforts and we think this is an attractive combination - plus the dividend can always be increased later.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the last six years, Laurus Labs has lifted its dividend by approximately 32% a year on average. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.

The Bottom Line

Has Laurus Labs got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Laurus Labs has grown its earnings per share while simultaneously reinvesting in the business. Unfortunately it's cut the dividend at least once in the past six years, but the conservative payout ratio makes the current dividend look sustainable. It's a promising combination that should mark this company worthy of closer attention.

So while Laurus Labs looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. For example - Laurus Labs has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.