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Why American Assets Trust (AAT) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now
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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. However, 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 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.
American Assets Trust in Focus
American Assets Trust (AAT - Free Report) is headquartered in San Diego, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -21.32% since the start of the year. The real estate investment trust is paying out a dividend of $0.32 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 4.33% compared to the REIT and Equity Trust - Retail industry's yield of 4.42% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.72%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.28 is up 10.3% from last year. Over the last 5 years, American Assets Trust has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 2.38%. 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. Right now, American Assets Trust's payout ratio is 58%, which means it paid out 58% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
AAT is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $2.20 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 10%.
Bottom Line
Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. 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. 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 AAT 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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Why American Assets Trust (AAT) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now
Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. However, 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 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.
American Assets Trust in Focus
American Assets Trust (AAT - Free Report) is headquartered in San Diego, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -21.32% since the start of the year. The real estate investment trust is paying out a dividend of $0.32 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 4.33% compared to the REIT and Equity Trust - Retail industry's yield of 4.42% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.72%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.28 is up 10.3% from last year. Over the last 5 years, American Assets Trust has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 2.38%. 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. Right now, American Assets Trust's payout ratio is 58%, which means it paid out 58% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
AAT is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $2.20 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 10%.
Bottom Line
Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. 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. 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 AAT is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).