Stellar Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:STEL) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 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 of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. This means that investors who purchase Stellar Bancorp's shares on or after the 14th of December will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 29th of December.

The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.13 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$0.52 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Stellar Bancorp has a trailing yield of 2.0% on the current share price of $26.06. 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.

See our latest analysis for Stellar Bancorp

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Stellar Bancorp paid out a comfortable 26% of its profit last year.

When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.

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

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. This is why it's a relief to see Stellar Bancorp earnings per share are up 8.0% per annum over the last five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Stellar Bancorp has delivered an average of 6.8% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past four years of dividend payments. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.