Back to top

Image: Bigstock

T. Rowe Price (TROW) Could Be a Great Choice

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 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

T. Rowe Price in Focus

Based in Baltimore, T. Rowe Price (TROW - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 8.33%. The financial services firm is currently shelling out a dividend of $1.24 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.25%. This compares to the Financial - Investment Management industry's yield of 2.56% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.56%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $4.96 is up 1.6% from last year. In the past five-year period, T. Rowe Price has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 10.74%. 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. Right now, T. Rowe's payout ratio is 60%, which means it paid out 60% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for TROW for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $8.96 per share, with earnings expected to increase 18.05% from the year ago period.

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.

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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that TROW 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:


T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (TROW) - free report >>

Published in