Why Synovus Financial (SNV) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now
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.
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.
Synovus Financial in Focus
Based in Columbus, Synovus Financial (SNV) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 6.47%. The holding company for Synovus Bank is paying out a dividend of $0.3 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.52% compared to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 1.74% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.99%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.20 is up 20% from last year. Synovus Financial has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 31.88%. 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. Synovus's current payout ratio is 32%. This means it paid out 32% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
SNV is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $4.02 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 10.44%.
Bottom Line
Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. But, not every company offers 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, SNV 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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