Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

Conagra Brands in Focus

Based in Chicago, Conagra Brands (CAG - Free Report) is in the Consumer Staples sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -1.67%. The company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.33 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.93%. This compares to the Food - Miscellaneous industry's yield of 0.13% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.81%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.32 is up 5.6% from last year. In the past five-year period, Conagra Brands has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 9.98%. 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. Conagra Brands's current payout ratio is 54%, meaning it paid out 54% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for CAG for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $2.43 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 2.97%.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. 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 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 CAG is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Conagra Brands (CAG) - free report >>

Published in