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Why State Street Corporation (STT) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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

State Street Corporation in Focus

Headquartered in Boston, State Street Corporation (STT - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -6.47% so far this year. The company is paying out a dividend of $0.69 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.81% compared to the Banks - Major Regional industry's yield of 3.9% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.62%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $2.76 is up 4.5% from last year. State Street Corporation has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 7.65%. 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, State Street Corporation's payout ratio is 36%, which means it paid out 36% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, STT expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $7.79 per share, with earnings expected to increase 1.70% from the year ago period.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. 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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that STT is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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