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Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock?

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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 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.

Zions in Focus

Based in Salt Lake City, Zions (ZION - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 5.82%. Currently paying a dividend of $0.41 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.15%. In comparison, the Banks - West industry's yield is 2.46%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.63%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.64 is up 3.8% from last year. Zions has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 10.80%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Zions's current payout ratio is 31%, meaning it paid out 31% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, ZION expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $6.52 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 12.61%.

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. But, not every company offers 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, ZION is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).


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