Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see TriCo Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBK) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. 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. Accordingly, TriCo Bancshares investors that purchase the stock on or after the 6th of September will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 20th of September.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.33 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$1.32 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, TriCo Bancshares has a trailing yield of 2.9% on the current stock price of US$45.46. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether TriCo Bancshares's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

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. That's why it's good to see TriCo Bancshares paying out a modest 37% of its earnings.

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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. This is why it's a relief to see TriCo Bancshares earnings per share are up 6.0% 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. In the past 10 years, TriCo Bancshares has increased its dividend at approximately 12% a year on average. 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.

To Sum It Up

Is TriCo Bancshares an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? TriCo Bancshares has seen its earnings per share grow slowly in recent years, and the company reinvests more than half of its profits in the business, which generally bodes well for its future prospects. TriCo Bancshares 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.

So while TriCo Bancshares looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for TriCo Bancshares you should know about.

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.