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Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock?

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Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. 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 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.

Huntington Bancshares in Focus

Headquartered in Columbus, Huntington Bancshares (HBAN - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -22.89% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.16 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 5.21%. In comparison, the Banks - Midwest industry's yield is 2.8%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.75%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.62 is up 2.5% from last year. Huntington Bancshares has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 9.37%. 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. Huntington Bancshares's current payout ratio is 45%, meaning it paid out 45% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, HBAN expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $1.40 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 29.63%.

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.

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. With that in mind, HBAN is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).


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