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BOK Financial (BOKF) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

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All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But 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 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.

BOK Financial in Focus

Headquartered in Tulsa, BOK Financial (BOKF - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 18.23% so far this year. The Regional banking operator is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.5 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.31%. This compares to the Banks - Southwest industry's yield of 0.49% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.95%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $2 is up 5.3% from last year. BOK Financial has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 3.79%. 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, BOK Financial's payout ratio is 29%, which means it paid out 29% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for BOKF for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $7.41 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 9.29%.

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. 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, BOKF 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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