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Why Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now

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All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. 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 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.

Toronto-Dominion Bank in Focus

Headquartered in Toronto, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -6.5% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.71 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 4.67%. In comparison, the Banks - Foreign industry's yield is 3.18%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.76%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $2.83 is up 2.9% from last year. Toronto-Dominion Bank has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 7.60%. 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, Toronto-Dominion's payout ratio is 44%, which means it paid out 44% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

TD is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $6.65 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 2.47%.

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, TD 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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