The U.S. consumer is alive and well. And we don’t need to look very far to see that fact. Just take a look at the retail figures for 2019, including the holiday spending season. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), total retail sales is expected to hit a whopping $3.8 trillion in 2019. That represents a 4.4% increase over 2018’s numbers. What’s even more impressive is the way consumers’ shopping patterns continue to shift. According to the NRF, online and mobile sales continue to take a bigger piece of the total sales pie. Moreover, consumers continue to shift towards “click-and-collect” style shopping, where both online and in-store experiences are blended together. This has completely redefined the entire U.S. retail ecosystem.
And our Best Dividend Stocks List pick in the industrial sector is right there to capitalize on this fact.
Our pick is at the forefront of the new online/omnichannel retail environment. As one of the largest providers of warehouse supplies, our pick has continued to meet the rising demand for its products. Covering everything from simple shipping labels and barcode readers to inventory management software, our pick has everything retailers need to compete as consumer shopping trends shift.
Read about when we originally picked the stock here.
The best part is there is still plenty of room for our pick to see further growth.
With 2-day and next-day shipping quickly becoming the norm, analysts expect this trend will require an exponential jump in the number of warehouses needed. Meanwhile, as shipping from store operations also sees a jump, more locations will need various equipment to become shipping points.
All of this will continue to translate into higher earnings, stronger cash flows and bigger dividends for our pick. In fact, our pick was already able to increase its payout over the summer based on this continued growth.
In the end, the continued shift towards online and click-and-collect operations will strengthen our pick’s bottom line and make it an ideal play for long-term shareholders.
To summarize, here are five reasons why you should own this stock:
1. Revenues for fiscal 2019 clocked in well over $1 billion, setting another record for the company.
2. The firm’s products are tied to some of the biggest future trends, including e-commerce, food safety and healthcare.
3. The shift towards higher-margined software and inventory management products has improved margins and made it more profitable.
4. More than 30 consecutive years of dividend increases, with the last jump being a 2.35% jump during the last summer.
5. Healthy payout ratio of 33% and yield of 1.60%.
Our Best Dividend Stocks List has 20 of the highest-rated stocks by our proprietary rating system. Go Premium to find out the entire list.
