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Why CNO Financial (CNO) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now
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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 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.
CNO Financial in Focus
CNO Financial (CNO - Free Report) is headquartered in Carmel, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -34.2% since the start of the year. The insurance holding company is paying out a dividend of $0.11 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.69% compared to the Insurance - Multi line industry's yield of 3.7% and the S&P 500's yield of 2.31%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.44 is up 2.3% from last year. Over the last 5 years, CNO Financial has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 11.46%. 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. Right now, CNO's payout ratio is 24%, which means it paid out 24% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for CNO for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $1.93 per share, with earnings expected to increase 7.22% 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, CNO 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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Why CNO Financial (CNO) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now
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 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.
CNO Financial in Focus
CNO Financial (CNO - Free Report) is headquartered in Carmel, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -34.2% since the start of the year. The insurance holding company is paying out a dividend of $0.11 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.69% compared to the Insurance - Multi line industry's yield of 3.7% and the S&P 500's yield of 2.31%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.44 is up 2.3% from last year. Over the last 5 years, CNO Financial has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 11.46%. 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. Right now, CNO's payout ratio is 24%, which means it paid out 24% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for CNO for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $1.93 per share, with earnings expected to increase 7.22% 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, CNO 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).