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BlackRock (BLK) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

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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.

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.

BlackRock in Focus

BlackRock (BLK - Free Report) is headquartered in New York, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -1.94% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $5 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.88%. In comparison, the Financial - Investment Management industry's yield is 2.82%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.71%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $20 is up 2.5% from last year. Over the last 5 years, BlackRock has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 12.01%. 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. BlackRock's current payout ratio is 56%. This means it paid out 56% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

BLK is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $35.48 per share, with earnings expected to increase 0.34% from the year ago period.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. But, not every company offers 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 must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that BLK 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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