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Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock? Douglas Emmett (DEI) Could Be a Great Choice

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Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. 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.

Douglas Emmett in Focus

Based in Santa Monica, Douglas Emmett (DEI - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 20.57%. Currently paying a dividend of $0.26 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.53%. In comparison, the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield is 4.2%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.97%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.04 is up 3% from last year. In the past five-year period, Douglas Emmett has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 5.73%. 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, Douglas Emmett's payout ratio is 50%, which means it paid out 50% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, DEI expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $2.11 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 4.46%.

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. With that in mind, DEI 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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