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This is Why Prudential (PRU) is a Great Dividend Stock

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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 for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on 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.

Prudential in Focus

Prudential (PRU - Free Report) is headquartered in Newark, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 5.03% since the start of the year. The financial services company is paying out a dividend of $1.3 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 4.77% compared to the Insurance - Multi line industry's yield of 2.02% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.57%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $5.20 is up 4% from last year. Prudential has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 5.27%. 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, Prudential's payout ratio is 43%, which means it paid out 43% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for PRU for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $13.48 per share, with earnings expected to increase 16.01% 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. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide 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. 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, PRU 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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