The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights S&P Global, MarketAxess, Penske Automotive, Citizens Community Bancorp and Franklin Electric
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – January 27, 2023 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: S&P Global SPGI, MarketAxess MKTX, Penske Automotive Group PAG, Citizens Community Bancorp CZWI and Franklin Electric Co. FELE.
Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:
5 Stocks to Watch on Dividend Hikes to Reward Investors
The bearish sentiment in U.S. stock markets prevails mostly due to multi-decade high inflation. Worried investors who have lost a massive amount of wealth since late 2021 continue to take refuge in safe investments that could preserve their capital and earn regular returns.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of December dropped to 6.5% after record highs in September and August 2022. Though the Federal Reserve's inflation-fighting monetary policy began to yield results, its 2% inflation mark for a balanced economy seems a distant reality. The cenral bank will continue to increase the overnight interest rate, though the pace of rate hike in terms of percentage points could be lower, keeping in mind the recent developments.
In its fight against inflation, the Fed raised the key interest rate seven times in 2022 and is expected to continue to do the same in 2023, thereby making it the highest in 15 years. Due to the high borrowing cost, which Americans are not comfortable with, it is expected that there will be slower growth and higher unemployment in recent times.
Globally, geopolitical tensions due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and Russia have created the worst energy crises in recent decades, causing a global supply-chain disturbance. Slowdown in growth and high inflation prevail in many countries due to high energy prices. Also, China has slowly started to recover from the last COVID resurgence. The country will take time to regain former efficiency. All these have disrupted the global supply-chain mechanism.
Thus, investors seeking regular income in such an unstable situation may invest in matured businesses with a regular dividend payout. These stocks have shown profitability due to their proven business model, which helps them stay afloat during adverse economic conditions.
Investors can expect a regular flow of income along with the preservation of capital against volatile market conditions. The company, which tends to reward its investors with a high dividend payout, comparatively outperforms non-dividend-paying stocks during market volatility.
On that note, let us look at companies like S&P Global, MarketAxess, Penske Automotive Group, Citizens Community Bancorp and Franklin Electric Co. that have lately hiked their dividend payments.
S&P Global is a NY-based company. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company is a leading provider of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide.
You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
On Jan 25, 2023, SPGI declared that its shareholders would receive a dividend of 90 cents a share on Mar 10, 2023. SPGI has a dividend yield of 0.93%.
Over the past five years, SPGI has increased its dividend six times and its payout ratio at present sits at 29% of earnings. Check S&P's dividend history here.
MarketAxess is a NY-based company. This Zacks Rank #3 company is a leading multi-dealer trading platform that offers institutional investors access to global liquidity in products like U.S. high-grade corporate bonds, emerging markets and high-yield bonds, European bonds, U.S. agency bonds, credit derivatives and other fixed-income securities
On Jan 25, MKTX declared that its shareholders would receive a dividend of 72 cents a share on Feb 22, 2023. MKTX has a dividend yield of 0.77%.
Over the past five years, MKTX has increased its dividend six times and its payout ratio presently sits at 43% of earnings. Check MarketAxess' dividend history here.
Penske Automotive Group is a Bloomfield Hills, MI-based company. This Zacks Rank #3 company is engaged in the operation of automotive and commercial truck dealerships in the United States, Canada and Western Europe.
On Jan 25, PAG declared that its shareholders would receive a dividend of 61 cents a share on Mar 1, 2023. PAG has a dividend yield of 1.90%.
Over the past five years, PAG has increased its dividend eighteen times and its payout ratio presently sits at 12% of earnings. Check Penske Automotive Group's dividend history here.
Citizens Community Bancorp is an Eau Claire, WI-based company. This Zacks Rank #3 company is engaged in the business of attracting deposits from the general public and investing those deposits in residential and consumer loans.
On Jan 23, CZWI declared that its shareholders would receive a dividend of 29 cents a share on Feb 17, 2023. CZWI has a dividend yield of 2.09%.
In the past five-year period, CZWI has increased its dividend five times. Its payout ratio at present sits at 14% of earnings. Check Citizens Community Bancorp's dividend history.
Franklin Electric Co. is a Fort Wayne, IN-based company. This Zacks Rank #3 company is a global leader in the production and marketing of systems and components for the movement of water and automotive fuels.
On Jan 23, FELE announced that its shareholders would receive a dividend of 23 cents a share on Feb 16, 2023. FELE has a dividend yield of 0.91%.
Over the past five years, FELE has increased its dividend six times. Its payout ratio now sits at 20% of earnings. Check Franklin Electric Co's dividend history here.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (PAG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (FELE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
S&P Global Inc. (SPGI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Citizens Community Bancorp, Inc. (CZWI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
