Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. 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.
Provident Financial in Focus
Based in Jersey City, Provident Financial (PFS - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -14.78%. The holding company for The Provident Bank is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.24 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.65%. This compares to the Financial - Savings and Loan industry's yield of 2.75% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.79%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.96 is up 3.2% from last year. In the past five-year period, Provident Financial has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 3.69%. 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. Right now, Provident Financial's payout ratio is 46%, which means it paid out 46% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Looking at this fiscal year, PFS expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $2.29 per share, with earnings expected to increase 4.57% 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.
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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that PFS is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
4 Oil Stocks with Massive Upsides
Global demand for oil is through the roof... and oil producers are struggling to keep up. So even though oil prices are well off their recent highs, you can expect big profits from the companies that supply the world with "black gold."
Zacks Investment Research has just released an urgent special report to help you bank on this trend.
In Oil Market on Fire, you'll discover 4 unexpected oil and gas stocks positioned for big gains in the coming weeks and months. You don't want to miss these recommendations.
Download your free report now to see them.
Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. 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.
Provident Financial in Focus
Based in Jersey City, Provident Financial (PFS - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -14.78%. The holding company for The Provident Bank is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.24 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.65%. This compares to the Financial - Savings and Loan industry's yield of 2.75% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.79%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.96 is up 3.2% from last year. In the past five-year period, Provident Financial has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 3.69%. 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. Right now, Provident Financial's payout ratio is 46%, which means it paid out 46% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Looking at this fiscal year, PFS expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $2.29 per share, with earnings expected to increase 4.57% 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.
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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that PFS is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
4 Oil Stocks with Massive Upsides
Global demand for oil is through the roof... and oil producers are struggling to keep up. So even though oil prices are well off their recent highs, you can expect big profits from the companies that supply the world with "black gold."
Zacks Investment Research has just released an urgent special report to help you bank on this trend.
In Oil Market on Fire, you'll discover 4 unexpected oil and gas stocks positioned for big gains in the coming weeks and months. You don't want to miss these recommendations.
Download your free report now to see them.
Get the latest research report on PFS - FREE