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Why Telekom Austria AG (TKAGY) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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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. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

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.

Telekom Austria AG in Focus

Headquartered in Vienna, Telekom Austria AG is a Utilities stock that has seen a price change of 4.36% so far this year. The company is paying out a dividend of $0.59 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.57% compared to the Diversified Communication Services industry's yield of 0.63% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.33%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.59 is up 13.2% from last year. In the past five-year period, Telekom Austria AG has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 31.55%. 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. Telekom Austria AG's current payout ratio is 40%, meaning it paid out 40% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, TKAGY expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $1.50 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 13.64%.

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.

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. 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, TKAGY 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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