Why Allianz SE (ALIZY) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now

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.Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.Allianz SE in FocusAllianz SE (ALIZY) is headquartered in Munich, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 30.68% since the start of the year. The company is currently shelling out a dividend of $1.18 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.95%. This compares to the Insurance - Multi line industry's yield of 1.82% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.54%.In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.18 is up 15.1% from last year. Allianz SE has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 7.95%. 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. Right now, Allianz's payout ratio is 37%, which means it paid out 37% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Looking at this fiscal year, ALIZY expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $3.20 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 16.36%.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.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. Income investors have to be mindful 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 ALIZY is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.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.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>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 Allianz SE (ALIZY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks