Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Clairvest Group Inc. (TSE:CVG) is about to go ex-dividend in just 2 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 as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Therefore, if you purchase Clairvest Group's shares on or after the 5th of July, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 26th of July.

The company's next dividend payment will be CA$0.8016 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed CA$0.81 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Clairvest Group has a trailing yield of approximately 1.2% on its current stock price of CA$69.83. 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 investigate whether Clairvest Group can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

Check out our latest analysis for Clairvest Group

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Clairvest Group paid a dividend last year despite being unprofitable. This might be a one-off event, but it's not a sustainable state of affairs in the long run.

Click here to see how much of its profit Clairvest Group paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies that aren't growing their earnings can still be valuable, but it is even more important to assess the sustainability of the dividend if it looks like the company will struggle to grow. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Clairvest Group reported a loss last year, and the general trend suggests its earnings have also been declining in recent years, making us wonder if the dividend is at risk.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the last 10 years, Clairvest Group has lifted its dividend by approximately 23% a year on average.

Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Clairvest Group's financial health, by checking our visualisation of its financial health, here.