Lowe's (LOW) 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. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

Headquartered in Mooresville, Lowe's (LOW) is a Retail-Wholesale stock that has seen a price change of -6.26% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $1.20 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.12%. In comparison, the Retail - Home Furnishings industry's yield is 0.49%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.43%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $4.80 is up 1.1% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Lowe's has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 17.45%. 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. Lowe's's current payout ratio is 39%, meaning it paid out 39% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for LOW for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $12.69 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 3.25%.

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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that LOW is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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