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Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

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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 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.

Ameriprise Financial Services in Focus

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -0.32% so far this year. The financial services company is paying out a dividend of $0.97 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.34% compared to the Financial - Investment Management industry's yield of 2.22% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.77%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $3.88 is up 1.8% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Ameriprise Financial Services has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 10.24%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Ameriprise's current payout ratio is 24%. This means it paid out 24% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, AMP expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $18.07 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 12.24%.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers their shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, AMP presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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