Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Boston Properties (BXP) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

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.

Boston Properties in Focus

Boston Properties (BXP - Free Report) is headquartered in Boston, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 13% since the start of the year. The real estate investment trust is paying out a dividend of $0.95 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.99% compared to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield of 4.06% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.93%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $3.80 is up 8.6% from last year. In the past five-year period, Boston Properties has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 10.38%. 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. Boston Properties's current payout ratio is 56%, meaning it paid out 56% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for BXP for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $6.99 per share, with earnings expected to increase 10.95% from the year ago period.

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 must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, BXP 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).


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP) - free report >>

Published in