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Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock?

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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.

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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

East West Bancorp in Focus

Based in Pasadena, East West Bancorp (EWBC - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -6.02%. The bank holding company is paying out a dividend of $0.4 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.16% compared to the Banks - West industry's yield of 2.57% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.64%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.60 is up 21.2% from last year. East West Bancorp has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 15.34%. 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. East West Bancorp's current payout ratio is 24%, meaning it paid out 24% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, EWBC expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $7.79 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 27.70%.

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. 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 EWBC 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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