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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.

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.

Horace Mann in Focus

Horace Mann (HMN - Free Report) is headquartered in Springfield, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 10.78% since the start of the year. The provider of auto and homeowners' insurance for teachers and other educators is paying out a dividend of $0.35 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.22% compared to the Insurance - Multi line industry's yield of 1.56% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.57%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.40 is up 2.9% from last year. Horace Mann has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 3.06%. 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. Horace Mann's current payout ratio is 43%. This means it paid out 43% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, HMN expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $3.87 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 21.70%.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. But, not every company offers 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, HMN 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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