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This is Why CNO Financial (CNO) is a Great 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 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

CNO Financial in Focus

Based in Carmel, CNO Financial (CNO - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -4.07%. The insurance holding company is paying out a dividend of $0.14 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.55% compared to the Insurance - Multi line industry's yield of 2.13% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.73%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.56 is up 1.8% from last year. In the past five-year period, CNO Financial has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 8.42%. 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. Right now, CNO's payout ratio is 24%, which means it paid out 24% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, CNO expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $2.80 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 20.17%.

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. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.

Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. 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 CNO is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).


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