Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Macatawa Bank Corporation (NASDAQ:MCBC) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Thus, you can purchase Macatawa Bank's shares before the 14th of August in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 30th of August.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.08 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.32 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Macatawa Bank stock has a trailing yield of around 3.3% on the current share price of $9.6. 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 check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

View our latest analysis for Macatawa Bank

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. Macatawa Bank has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 25% of its income after tax.

Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.

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

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. It's encouraging to see Macatawa Bank has grown its earnings rapidly, up 22% a year for the past five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, nine years ago, Macatawa Bank has lifted its dividend by approximately 17% 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.