Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock? Spire (SR) Could Be a Great Choice

Read MoreHide Full Article

All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But 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.

Spire in Focus

Spire (SR - Free Report) is headquartered in St Louis, and is in the Utilities sector. The stock has seen a price change of 10.79% since the start of the year. The natural gas distributor is paying out a dividend of $0.65 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.66% compared to the Utility - Gas Distribution industry's yield of 3.01% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.38%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $2.60 is up 4.4% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Spire has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 5.67%. 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. Spire's current payout ratio is 54%. This means it paid out 54% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, SR expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $4.41 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 17.29%.

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. 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that SR is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Spire Inc. (SR) - free report >>

Published in