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Why Mid Penn Bancorp (MPB) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now

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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. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, 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.

Mid Penn Bancorp in Focus

Based in Millersburg, Mid Penn Bancorp (MPB - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 7.08%. The company is paying out a dividend of $0.18 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.92% compared to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 1.81% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.94%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.72 is up 60% from last year. Mid Penn Bancorp has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 10.64%. 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. Mid Penn Bancorp's current payout ratio is 29%. This means it paid out 29% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, MPB expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $2.20 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 7.32%.

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 have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, MPB 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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