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This is Why Canadian Imperial Bank (CM) is a Great 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. 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 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.

Canadian Imperial Bank in Focus

Headquartered in Toronto, Canadian Imperial Bank (CM - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 10.72% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $1.06 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 5.15%. In comparison, the Banks - Foreign industry's yield is 3.03%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.89%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $4.25 is up 1.9% from last year. In the past five-year period, Canadian Imperial Bank has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 4.52%. Any future dividend growth will depend on both earnings growth and the company's payout ratio; a payout ratio is the proportion of a firm's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, Canadian Imperial Bank's payout ratio is 44%, which means it paid out 44% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for CM for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $9.42 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 0.86%.

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.

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 must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, CM 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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