ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 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. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Meaning, you will need to purchase ESSA Bancorp's shares before the 14th of March to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 29th of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.15 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.60 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that ESSA Bancorp has a trailing yield of 3.4% on the current share price of US$17.88. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether ESSA Bancorp's dividend is reliable and sustainable. As a result, readers should always check whether ESSA Bancorp has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

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. ESSA Bancorp paid out a comfortable 32% 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 how much of its profit ESSA Bancorp paid out over the last 12 months.

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 decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. It's encouraging to see ESSA Bancorp has grown its earnings rapidly, up 26% 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, 10 years ago, ESSA Bancorp has lifted its dividend by approximately 12% 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

Is ESSA Bancorp worth buying for its dividend? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. This is one of the most attractive investment combinations under this analysis, as it can create substantial value for investors over the long run. ESSA Bancorp ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.

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

A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.