Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock? Merck (MRK) Could Be a Great Choice

Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Merck in Focus

Merck (MRK) is headquartered in Kenilworth, and is in the Medical sector. The stock has seen a price change of -12.28% since the start of the year. The pharmaceutical company is paying out a dividend of $0.61 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.06% compared to the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry's yield of 2.56% and the S&P 500's yield of 2.21%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $2.44 is up 8% from last year. In the past five-year period, Merck has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 6.16%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, Merck's payout ratio is 45%, which means it paid out 45% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for MRK for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $5.36 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 3.28%.

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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, MRK 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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