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This is Why Parker-Hannifin (PH) is a Great Dividend Stock

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All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. 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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Parker-Hannifin in Focus

Headquartered in Cleveland, Parker-Hannifin (PH - Free Report) is an Industrial Products stock that has seen a price change of 0.84% so far this year. The maker of motion and control products is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.76 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.02%. This compares to the Manufacturing - General Industrial industry's yield of 0.31% and the S&P 500's yield of 2.14%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $3.04 is up 10.9% from last year. Parker-Hannifin has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 8.77%. 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. Parker-Hannifin's current payout ratio is 28%, meaning it paid out 28% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, PH expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $11.60 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 11.32%.

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. However, not all companies offer 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 have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, PH 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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