Manulife Financial (MFC) Could Be a Great Choice

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.While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on 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.Manulife Financial in FocusHeadquartered in Toronto, Manulife Financial (MFC) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 35.25% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.29 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.88%. In comparison, the Insurance - Life Insurance industry's yield is 1.18%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.5%.Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.16 is up 7.1% from last year. Manulife Financial has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 9.07%. 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. Right now, Manulife's payout ratio is 43%, which means it paid out 43% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Earnings growth looks solid for MFC for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $2.73 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 6.23%.Bottom LineInvestors 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.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. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that MFC is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.7% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>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 Manulife Financial Corp (MFC): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks