Why Procter & Gamble (PG) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now

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 the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a 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.

Procter & Gamble in Focus

Procter & Gamble (PG) is headquartered in Cincinnati, and is in the Consumer Staples sector. The stock has seen a price change of -5.33% since the start of the year. The world's largest consumer products maker is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.75 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.52%. This compares to the Soap and Cleaning Materials industry's yield of 2.45% and the S&P 500's yield of 2.51%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $2.98 is up 2.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Procter & Gamble has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 2.99%. 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, P&G's payout ratio is 60%, which means it paid out 60% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, PG expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $4.96 per share, with earnings expected to increase 9.73% from the year ago period.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, PG 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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