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Why BlackRock (BLK) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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

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 -9.41% since the start of the year. The investment firm is currently shelling out a dividend of $5 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.12%. This compares to the Financial - Investment Management industry's yield of 2.91% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.72%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $20 is up 2.5% from last year. BlackRock has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 11.89%. 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. 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 $35.39 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 0.08%.

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, BLK 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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