It looks like Jupiter Fund Management Plc (LON:JUP) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is two business days before the record date, which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves at least two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company’s books on the record date. Thus, you can purchase Jupiter Fund Management’s shares before the 17th of April in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 20th of May.

The company’s next dividend payment will be UK£0.022 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of UK£0.044 to shareholders. Last year’s total dividend payments show that Jupiter Fund Management has a trailing yield of 6.2% on the current share price of UK£0.711. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether Jupiter Fund Management has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

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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. Jupiter Fund Management paid out a comfortable 43% 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.

See our latest analysis for Jupiter Fund Management

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

Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Readers will understand then, why we’re concerned to see Jupiter Fund Management’s earnings per share have dropped 15% a year over the past five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.

Another key way to measure a company’s dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Jupiter Fund Management’s dividend payments per share have declined at 5.3% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring. It’s never nice to see earnings and dividends falling, but at least management has cut the dividend rather than potentially risk the company’s health in an attempt to maintain it.