Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.
Procter & Gamble in Focus
Based in Cincinnati, Procter & Gamble (PG) is in the Consumer Staples sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 11.4%. The world's largest consumer products maker is paying out a dividend of $0.79 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.27% compared to the Soap and Cleaning Materials industry's yield of 2% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.48%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $3.16 is up 4.4% from last year. In the past five-year period, Procter & Gamble has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 3.73%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. P&G's current payout ratio is 59%, meaning it paid out 59% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for PG for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $5.56 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 8.59%.
Bottom Line
Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that PG is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
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Procter & Gamble Company The (PG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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