Back to top

Image: Bigstock

BCB Bancorp (BCBP) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. 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 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.

BCB Bancorp in Focus

Headquartered in Bayonne, BCB Bancorp (BCBP - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 18.28% so far this year. The community bank is paying out a dividend of $0.16 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.51% compared to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 2.15% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.37%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.64 is up 6.7% from last year. BCB Bancorp has increased its dividend 1 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 1.46%. 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. BCB Bancorp's current payout ratio is 33%. This means it paid out 33% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, BCBP expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $1.99 per share, with earnings expected to increase 3.65% 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. But, not every company offers 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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that BCBP is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Published in