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Why T. Rowe Price (TROW) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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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. 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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

T. Rowe Price in Focus

Based in Baltimore, T. Rowe Price (TROW - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 15.97%. Currently paying a dividend of $0.76 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.84%. In comparison, the Financial - Investment Management industry's yield is 2.82%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.93%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $3.04 is up 8.6% from last year. In the past five-year period, T. Rowe Price has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 10.86%. Any future dividend growth will depend on both earnings growth and the company's payout ratio; a payout ratio is the proportion of a firm's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, T. Rowe's payout ratio is 42%, which means it paid out 42% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, TROW expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $7.52 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 3.44%.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. But, not every company offers 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that TROW is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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