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 The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited (NYSE:NTB) is about to go ex-dividend in just three days. You will need to purchase shares before the 11th of May to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 26th of May.

Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son's next dividend payment will be US$0.44 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.76 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son has a trailing yield of 4.4% on the current share price of $39.82. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

View our latest analysis for Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son

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. Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son is paying out an acceptable 59% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies.

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?

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 earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. For this reason, we're glad to see Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son's earnings per share have risen 19% per annum over the last five years.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the past five years, Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son has increased its dividend at approximately 34% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.

To Sum It Up

Has Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Earnings per share are growing at an attractive rate, and Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son is paying out a bit over half its profits. Overall, Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. For example, we've found 1 warning sign for Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son that we recommend you consider before investing in the business.

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.

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. 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.

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