Yes. There is a good thread Dividend Irrelevance on this. The title is provocative and that probably doesn’t help to get people to think about the topic in a considered way.
The good thing that some people talk about on this particular Megathread is regular and consistent investing - far far more important than pursuit of and/or glorification of dividends. But yes, looking at a companies dividend strategy often tells you a lot about the business - I have always paid attention to when a business cuts its dividend (it can suggest a lot of things about the market and sector beyond the company itself). Some businesses increase their dividends as time goes by - but this is not necessarily telling us anything positive about the business ( look at other parameters not just dividends).
On a personal note, all that I will say is that I did not invest in any dividend stocks for the first 15 or so years of investing - in fact I switched out of companies that decided to pay dividends. But I fully understand the psychological sure footing that some get out of dividends - and I suspect many who do opt for focusing on dividends possibly do OK even if not stellar.
The bottom line is that regular investing is good. Total return is critical.