This is Why AES (AES) is a Great Dividend Stock

All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. However, 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.

AES in Focus

Based in Arlington, AES (AES) is in the Utilities sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -0.21%. The power company is paying out a dividend of $0.15 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.57% compared to the Utility - Electric Power industry's yield of 3.31% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.4%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.60 is up 4.7% from last year. AES has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 6.39%. 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. AES's current payout ratio is 40%. This means it paid out 40% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

AES is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $1.54 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 6.94%.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. However, not all companies offer 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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that AES is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
The AES Corporation (AES) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research