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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 for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the 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.

Hanover Insurance Group in Focus

Hanover Insurance Group (THG - Free Report) is headquartered in Worcester, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -11.52% since the start of the year. The insurance company is paying out a dividend of $0.81 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.71% compared to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry's yield of 0.7% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.72%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $3.24 is up 5.9% from last year. Hanover Insurance Group has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 8.29%. 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. Hanover Insurance's current payout ratio is 59%. This means it paid out 59% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, THG expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $6.96 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 25.86%.

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. But, not every company offers 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 must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, THG 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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