With the market now in bear territory, it's a good time to look for stocks trading at a discount, because over the long term you are likely to see good stocks recover relatively quickly and continue to appreciate. But no one knows if the market has bottomed yet or how much pain could be ahead for stocks in the near term, given the uncertainty in the market. That's why, if you can find stocks trading at a discount that also pay out good passive income, it's a win-win.
Here's one stock that has quickly become a dividend beast and trades at less than eight times earnings.
The dividend is up 135% in less than three years
Long known as a company with volatile and inconsistent earnings, the investment banking giant Goldman Sachs (GS 0.02%) has raised its quarterly dividend a ton since 2019 and now boasts an attractive yield for dividend investors.
GS Dividend Yield data by YCharts
Goldman hasn't always been known as a dividend stock, but with its latest announced increase, which isn't reflected in the chart above, the bank plans to raise its quarterly dividend from $2 per share to $2.50 starting in the third quarter. That will give Goldman a dividend yield of roughly 3.33% at its current share price and reflect a roughly 135% increase in the quarterly dividend since 2019.
Furthermore, with analysts projecting Goldman's earnings to come in at nearly $38 per share this year and $40.65 next year, that would give Goldman a payout ratio of 26% if you annualized the $2.50 dividend this year and under 25% next year, leaving plenty of room to continue growing that dividend.
Goldman Sachs is creating more consistent earnings
The investment banking business doesn't always receive the highest earnings multiples from the market because company earnings are not always easy to forecast and don't always come in a linear fashion, as evidenced by Goldman Sachs over the years.
GS EPS Diluted (Annual) data by YCharts
But over the last five years or so, management has sought to fix this by building out its consumer bank in order to create more consistent earnings that investors can count on. Goldman's digital bank Marcus has been pretty successful, bringing in $100 billion in deposits from 10 million customers. Furthermore, Marcus offers personal loans, various credit cards, and online investing capabilities. The unit brought in $1.5 billion of revenue in 2021, and CEO David Solomon wants to grow that to more than $4 billion by 2024.
Also, don't sleep on Goldman's core investment banking and trading operations. The company generated a whopping $59.45 in earnings per share in 2021. Now, that was an abnormal year, and earnings are projected to come down significantly this year, but Goldman has a medium-term goal of delivering sustainable 14% to 16% returns on equity.
Goldman Sachs' dividend adds stability
One reason I like the growing dividend at Goldman is that it's another way for management to offer investors a form of stability. Goldman may be a more attractive stock for investors if they know they will be able to collect a 3% to 4% dividend yield during years when investment banking and trading revenues aren't so great. It's also a lure for investors to buy in now as they wait for Goldman to grow its consumer banking unit and make earnings more stable.
With its stock trading at below eight times projected 2022 earnings, I think Goldman will eventually garner a higher multiple and therefore a higher stock price.
