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Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

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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. 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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Toronto-Dominion Bank in Focus

Based in Toronto, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 5.99%. Currently paying a dividend of $0.7 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.47%. In comparison, the Banks - Foreign industry's yield is 3.05%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.41%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $2.82 is up 12.4% from last year. Toronto-Dominion Bank has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 8.43%. 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. Toronto-Dominion's current payout ratio is 43%, meaning it paid out 43% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, TD expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $6.36 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 1.11%.

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. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide 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. 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 TD is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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