Gabriel Holding A/S (CPH:GABR) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. You can purchase shares before the 13th of December in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 17th of December.

Gabriel Holding's next dividend payment will be ø10.50 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of ø10.50 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Gabriel Holding stock has a trailing yield of around 1.3% on the current share price of DKK790. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Gabriel Holding

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Fortunately Gabriel Holding's payout ratio is modest, at just 41% of profit. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Gabriel Holding generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It paid out an unsustainably high 217% of its free cash flow as dividends over the past 12 months, which is worrying. Our definition of free cash flow excludes cash generated from asset sales, so since Gabriel Holding is paying out such a high percentage of its cash flow, it might be worth seeing if it sold assets or had similar events that might have led to such a high dividend payment.

While Gabriel Holding's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, cash is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Were this to happen repeatedly, this would be a risk to Gabriel Holding's ability to maintain its dividend.

Click here to see how much of its profit Gabriel Holding paid out over the last 12 months.

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. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Fortunately for readers, Gabriel Holding's earnings per share have been growing at 18% a year for the past five years. Earnings have been growing at a decent rate, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the last nine years, Gabriel Holding has lifted its dividend by approximately 14% a year on average. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.

The Bottom Line

Should investors buy Gabriel Holding for the upcoming dividend? We like that Gabriel Holding has been successfully growing its earnings per share at a nice rate and reinvesting most of its profits in the business. However, we note the high cashflow payout ratio with some concern. Overall, it's not a bad combination, but we feel that there are likely more attractive dividend prospects out there.

Curious about whether Gabriel Holding has been able to consistently generate growth? Here's a chart of its historical revenue and earnings growth.

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.