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New Jersey Resources (NJR) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

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.

Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, 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.

New Jersey Resources in Focus

Headquartered in Wall, New Jersey Resources (NJR) is a Utilities stock that has seen a price change of -1.87% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.39 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.2%. In comparison, the Utility - Gas Distribution industry's yield is 3.28%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.81%.

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Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.56 is up 5.5% from last year. New Jersey Resources has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 7.50%. 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. New Jersey Resources's current payout ratio is 57%. This means it paid out 57% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for NJR for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $2.71 per share, with earnings expected to increase 8.40% from the year ago period.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. 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, NJR presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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NewJersey Resources Corporation (NJR) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Zacks Investment Research