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Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock? Highwoods Properties (HIW) Could Be a Great Choice

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

Highwoods Properties in Focus

Based in Raleigh, Highwoods Properties (HIW - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -1.84%. Currently paying a dividend of $0.48 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 4%. In comparison, the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield is 4.45%, while the S&P 500's yield is 2.04%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.92 is up 1.1% from last year. In the past five-year period, Highwoods Properties has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 3%. 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. Highwoods 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 HIW for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $3.64 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 9.31%.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers their shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. 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, HIW 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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