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Why Whirlpool (WHR) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now

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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.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

Whirlpool in Focus

Based in Benton Harbor, Whirlpool (WHR - Free Report) is in the Consumer Discretionary sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -19.53%. The maker of Maytag, KitchenAid and other appliances is paying out a dividend of $1.75 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.71% compared to the Household Appliances industry's yield of 1.78% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.44%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $7 is up 28.4% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Whirlpool has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 5.63%. 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. Whirlpool's current payout ratio is 21%, meaning it paid out 21% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for WHR for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $27.63 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 3.91%.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. 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 WHR is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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