Why Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now

Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. 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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in FocusBrookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) is headquartered in Hamilton, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -12.24% since the start of the year. The operator of utility, transportation and energy assets is paying out a dividend of $0.43 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 6.16% compared to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield of 5.4% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.69%.Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.72 is up 6.2% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 5.94%. 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, Brookfield Infrastructure's payout ratio is 52%, which means it paid out 52% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Earnings growth looks solid for BIP for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $3.45 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 10.58%.Bottom LineInvestors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, BIP 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).Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is among the most innovative financial firms. With a fast-growing customer base (already 50+ million) and a diverse set of cutting edge solutions, this stock is poised for big gains. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant 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 Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (BIP): 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