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Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock? Preferred Bank (PFBC) Could Be a Great Choice

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Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

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.

Preferred Bank in Focus

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Preferred Bank (PFBC - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 13.39% so far this year. The independent commercial bank is paying out a dividend of $0.43 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.11% compared to the Banks - West industry's yield of 2.15% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.37%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.72 is up 19.4% from last year. Preferred Bank has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 16.29%. Any future dividend growth will depend on both earnings growth and the company's payout ratio; a payout ratio is the proportion of a firm's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Preferred Bank's current payout ratio is 24%. This means it paid out 24% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for PFBC for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $7.12 per share, with earnings expected to increase 11.08% from the year ago period.

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. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers their shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, PFBC presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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