Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:MSBI) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four 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. Thus, you can purchase Midland States Bancorp's shares before the 14th of February in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 21st of February.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.31 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.24 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Midland States Bancorp has a trailing yield of approximately 6.3% on its current stock price of US$19.72. 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! As a result, readers should always check whether Midland States Bancorp has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for Midland States Bancorp

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. Midland States Bancorp 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 the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Midland States Bancorp was unprofitable last year, but at least the general trend suggests its earnings have been improving over the past five years. Even so, an unprofitable company whose business does not quickly recover is usually not a good candidate for dividend investors.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the past nine years, Midland States Bancorp has increased its dividend at approximately 6.2% 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.

Get our latest analysis on Midland States Bancorp's balance sheet health here.

To Sum It Up

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Midland States Bancorp? It's not great to see the company paying a dividend despite being loss-making over the last year. This is not an overtly appealing combination of characteristics, and we're just not that interested in this company's dividend.

Having said that, if you're looking at this stock without much concern for the dividend, you should still be familiar of the risks involved with Midland States Bancorp. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Midland States Bancorp you should know about.

Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.

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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.