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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. However, 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.

HP in Focus

Based in Palo Alto, HP (HPQ - Free Report) is in the Computer and Technology sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -4.85%. The personal computer and printer maker is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.28 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.85%. This compares to the Computer - Mini computers industry's yield of 1.13% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.64%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.10 is up 4.8% from last year. Over the last 5 years, HP has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 13.74%. 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. HP's current payout ratio is 32%, meaning it paid out 32% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for HPQ for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $3.45 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 5.18%.

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. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide 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. With that in mind, HPQ 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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