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Greenbrier Companies (GBX) Could Be a Great Choice

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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. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

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.

Greenbrier Companies in Focus

Headquartered in Lake Oswego, Greenbrier Companies (GBX - Free Report) is a Transportation stock that has seen a price change of 4.21% so far this year. The maker of railroad freight car equipment is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.6 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.61%. This compares to the Transportation - Equipment and Leasing industry's yield of 1.1% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.61%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.20 is up 8.1% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Greenbrier Companies has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 2.37%. 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. Right now, Greenbrier's payout ratio is 31%, which means it paid out 31% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, GBX expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $3.67 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 23.57%.

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. However, not all companies offer 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, GBX presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).


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