This is Why Investors Bancorp (ISBC) is a Great Dividend Stock
All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.
Investors Bancorp in Focus
Investors Bancorp (ISBC) is headquartered in Short Hills, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 23.3% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.14 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 4.3%. In comparison, the Financial - Savings and Loan industry's yield is 2.41%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.35%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.56 is up 16.7% from last year. Investors Bancorp has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 15.19%. 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. Investors Bancorp's current payout ratio is 52%, meaning it paid out 52% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
ISBC is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $1.24 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 31.91%.
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. However, not all companies offer 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. 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, ISBC 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).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Investors Bancorp, Inc. (ISBC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
