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This is Why Ryman Hospitality Properties (RHP) is a Great Dividend Stock

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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. 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

Ryman Hospitality Properties in Focus

Headquartered in Nashville, Ryman Hospitality Properties (RHP - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 22.18% so far this year. The hotel and resort real estate investment trust is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.9 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.42%. This compares to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield of 4.29% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.93%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $3.60 is up 5.9% from last year. In the past five-year period, Ryman Hospitality Properties has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 9.49%. 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. Ryman Hospitality Properties's current payout ratio is 56%. This means it paid out 56% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, RHP expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $6.75 per share, with earnings expected to increase 15.19% from the year ago period.

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. However, not all companies offer 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. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that RHP is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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