Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Morgan Stanley (MS) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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

Morgan Stanley in Focus

Based in New York, Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 8.45%. The investment bank is paying out a dividend of $0.77 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.36% compared to the Financial - Investment Bank industry's yield of 0.39% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.7%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $3.10 is up 5.1% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 27.74%. 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. Morgan Stanley's current payout ratio is 49%. This means it paid out 49% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for MS for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $7.21 per share, with earnings expected to increase 13.36% 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. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.

High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, MS 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).


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Morgan Stanley (MS) - free report >>

Published in