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Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock?

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Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

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.

Bank OZK in Focus

Headquartered in Little Rock, Bank OZK (OZK - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -14.95% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.4 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.78%. In comparison, the Banks - Northeast industry's yield is 2.72%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.51%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.60 is up 12.7% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Bank OZK has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 10.23%. 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. Bank OZK's current payout ratio is 26%, meaning it paid out 26% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for OZK for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $6 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 2.21%.

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. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.

High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, OZK 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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