Wells Fargo (WFC) 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 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.

Based in San Francisco, Wells Fargo (WFC) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 15.68%. The biggest U.S. mortgage lender is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.45 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.22%. This compares to the Financial - Investment Bank industry's yield of 0.99% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.49%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.80 is up 20% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Wells Fargo has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 36.70%. 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. Wells Fargo's current payout ratio is 28%, meaning it paid out 28% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

WFC is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $6.01 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 11.92%.

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers its shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, WFC 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).

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

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

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

Zacks Investment Research

Source Zacks-com