Air Products and Chemicals (APD) 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 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.Air Products and Chemicals (APD) is headquartered in Allentown, and is in the Basic Materials sector. The stock has seen a price change of 13.32% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $1.81 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.59%. In comparison, the Chemical - Diversified industry's yield is 1.61%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.45%.Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $7.24 is up 1.7% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Air Products and Chemicals has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 6.01%. 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. Air Products and Chemicals's current payout ratio is 56%, meaning it paid out 56% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Earnings growth looks solid for APD for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $13.23 per share, with earnings expected to increase 9.98% from the year ago period.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. 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, APD presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.See Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks