Why Procter & Gamble (PG) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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 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

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Procter & Gamble (PG) is a Consumer Staples stock that has seen a price change of -9.46% so far this year. The world's largest consumer products maker is paying out a dividend of $0.79 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.51% compared to the Soap and Cleaning Materials industry's yield of 2% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.39%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $3.16 is up 4.4% 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 3.94%. 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. P&G's current payout ratio is 56%, meaning it paid out 56% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for PG for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $5.66 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 10.55%.

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.

High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, PG 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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