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Equinix (EQIX) Could Be a Great Choice

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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. 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.

Based in Redwood City, Equinix (EQIX - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -17.09%. Currently paying a dividend of $4.69 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.4%. In comparison, the REIT and Equity Trust - Retail industry's yield is 4.11%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.49%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $18.76 is up 10.1% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Equinix has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 13.62%. 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. Equinix's current payout ratio is 51%, meaning it paid out 51% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

EQIX is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $38.13 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 8.88%.

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.

Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, EQIX presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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