Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. 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.

Prosperity Bancshares (PB - Free Report) is headquartered in Houston, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 7.6% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.60 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.23%. In comparison, the Banks - Southwest industry's yield is 1.65%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.41%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $2.40 is up 2.6% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Prosperity Bancshares has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 4.50%. 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. Prosperity Bancshares's current payout ratio is 41%, meaning it paid out 41% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for PB for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $6.27 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 10.19%.

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.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers its shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. 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, PB 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).

Published in