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Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 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 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.

Johnson & Johnson in Focus

Based in New Brunswick, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) is in the Medical sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 3.46%. The world's biggest maker of health care products is paying out a dividend of $1.01 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.48% compared to the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry's yield of 2.41% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.34%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $4.04 is up 1.5% from last year. Johnson & Johnson has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 6.12%. 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. Johnson & Johnson's current payout ratio is 50%, meaning it paid out 50% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for JNJ for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $9.48 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 18.06%.

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. But, not every company offers 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 must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, JNJ 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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