This is Why Astrazeneca (AZN) is a Great Dividend Stock
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.
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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.
Astrazeneca in Focus
Astrazeneca (AZN) is headquartered in Cambridge, and is in the Medical sector. The stock has seen a price change of 2.06% since the start of the year. The pharmaceutical is paying out a dividend of $0.96 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.79% compared to the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry's yield of 2.56% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.73%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.93 is up 35.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Astrazeneca has increased its dividend 1 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 2.17%. 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. Astrazeneca's current payout ratio is 27%, meaning it paid out 27% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
AZN is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $3.61 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 8.41%.
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.
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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, AZN 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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AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
