Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BRDG) 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. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. In other words, investors can purchase Bridge Investment Group Holdings’ shares before the 2nd of June in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 17th of June.

The company’s next dividend payment will be US$0.26 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.84 per share. Based on the last year’s worth of payments, Bridge Investment Group Holdings has a trailing yield of 3.7% on the current stock price of $19.38. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. That’s why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

View our latest analysis for Bridge Investment Group Holdings

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable – hardly an ideal situation. Bridge Investment Group Holdings 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 with flat earnings can still be attractive dividend payers, but it is important to be more conservative with your approach and demand a greater margin for safety when it comes to dividend sustainability. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time.

We’d also point out that Bridge Investment Group Holdings issued a meaningful number of new shares in the past year. It’s hard to grow dividends per share when a company keeps creating new shares.

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Unfortunately Bridge Investment Group Holdings has only been paying a dividend for a year or so, so there’s not much of a history to draw insight from.

Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Bridge Investment Group Holdings’s financial health, by checking our visualisation of its financial health, here.

Final Takeaway

Has Bridge Investment Group Holdings got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? It’s definitely not great to see that it paid a dividend despite reporting a loss last year. Worse, the general trend in its earnings looks negative in recent times. This is not an overtly appealing combination of characteristics, and we’re just not that interested in this company’s dividend.

With that in mind though, if the poor dividend characteristics of Bridge Investment Group Holdings don’t faze you, it’s worth being mindful of the risks involved with this business. For example, we’ve found 1 warning sign for Bridge Investment Group Holdings that we recommend you consider before investing in the business.

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.