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Why Banco De Chile (BCH) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

Banco De Chile in Focus

Banco De Chile (BCH - Free Report) is headquartered in Santiago, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 30.2% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $1.57 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 5.32%. In comparison, the Banks - Foreign industry's yield is 3.36%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.59%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.57 is up 27.1% from last year. In the past five-year period, Banco De Chile has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 67.08%. 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, Banco De Chile's payout ratio is 55%, which means it paid out 55% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

BCH is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $2.54 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 5.83%.

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. But, not every company offers 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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that BCH is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).


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