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Are You Looking for a High-Growth 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. However, 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 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

Based in Mclean, Maximus (MMS - Free Report) is in the Business Services sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -35.08%. The government health services provider is paying out a dividend of $0.33 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.36% compared to the Government Services industry's yield of 0.75% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.34%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.32 is up 10% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Maximus has increased its dividend 1 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 1.91%. 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. Maximus's current payout ratio is 17%, meaning it paid out 17% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

MMS is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $8.43 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 14.54%.

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.

High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, MMS 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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