Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. However, 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.
Based in Seattle, WaFd (WAFD) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 4.62%. The holding company for Washington Federal Savings Bank is paying out a dividend of $0.27 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.22% compared to the Banks - West industry's yield of 2.96% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.37%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.08 is up 0.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, WaFd has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 4.27%. 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. WaFd's current payout ratio is 40%, meaning it paid out 40% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for WAFD for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $3.06 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 12.50%.
From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. 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, WAFD 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
