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This is Why Brookline Bancorp (BRKL) 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 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 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.

Brookline Bancorp in Focus

Brookline Bancorp (BRKL - Free Report) is headquartered in Boston, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 6.51% since the start of the year. The bank holding company is paying out a dividend of $0.11 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.99% compared to the Financial - Savings and Loan industry's yield of 2.29% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.94%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.44 is up 11.4% from last year. Brookline Bancorp has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 3.72%. 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. Brookline's current payout ratio is 39%, meaning it paid out 39% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for BRKL for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $1.16 per share, with earnings expected to increase 8.41% from the year ago period.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. 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, BRKL presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).


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