This is Why Highwoods Properties (HIW) 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 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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.
Highwoods Properties in Focus
Headquartered in Raleigh, Highwoods Properties (HIW) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -26.76% so far this year. The real estate investment trust is paying out a dividend of $0.48 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 5.36% compared to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield of 6.01% and the S&P 500's yield of 2.31%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.92 is up 1.1% from last year. In the past five-year period, Highwoods Properties has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 3.14%. 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. Highwoods Properties's current payout ratio is 56%, meaning it paid out 56% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
HIW is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $3.58 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 7.51%.
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.
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. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, HIW 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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