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Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (BWFG) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

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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. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

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.

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. In Focus

Based in New Canaan, Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (BWFG - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 2.01%. The company is paying out a dividend of $0.2 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.39% compared to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 2.27% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.45%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.80 is up 25% from last year. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 18.67%. 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. Right now, Bankwell Financial Group, Inc.'s payout ratio is 21%, which means it paid out 21% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

BWFG is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $3.55 per share, with earnings expected to increase 5.65% from the year ago period.

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. 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, BWFG presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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