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Bank of Marin (BMRC) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

Zacks Equity Research
·3 min read

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.

Bank of Marin in Focus

Based in Novato, Bank of Marin (BMRC) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -16.28%. The bank holding company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.25 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.21%. This compares to the Banks - West industry's yield of 2.62% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.72%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1 is up 6.4% from last year. Bank of Marin has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 12.95%. 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, Bank of Marin's payout ratio is 36%, which means it paid out 36% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, BMRC expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $2.90 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 9.85%.

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. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide 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 must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that BMRC 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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