Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), the owner of Facebook, is now a dividend stock. Following its fourth-quarter earnings release, the company announced a dividend worth US$0.50 per share ($2 per year). At Meta’s current stock price of US$467, that provides a 0.42% dividend yield. Not a whole lot.
Generally speaking, when you invest in fast-growing “innovative” companies, you don’t get much in the way of dividends. Such companies are still in their growth stage; therefore, it often makes more sense for them to reinvest in themselves, rather than pay cash out to shareholders.
However, some companies offer dividends and growth in one package. Whether due to asset-light business models, word-of-mouth marketing or some other factor, they are able to offer growth and yield side by side. In this article, I will explore one TSX dividend stock that is growing almost as much as META is, while paying much more in dividends.
Brookfield Asset Management
Brookfield Asset Management (TSX: BAM) is, like Meta, a newly minted dividend stock. It started paying dividends after it was spun off from Brookfield Corp (TSX: BN) in 2022. BAM pays a dividend of US$0.38 per quarter, which was $0.52 per quarter as of the most recent payment date. If the dividend stays at $0.52, then the forward yield will be 3.7% ($2.08 in annual dividends divided by the $56.43 share price).
Decent growth
Brookfield Asset Management has decent growth for a financial company. Its 14% top-line growth rate is almost as good as META’s (21%), but is much less affected by fickle market factors. In 2022, META’s revenue growth tanked when Apple’s app tracking transparency program reduced the effectiveness of the company’s ads. Eventually, META found out ways to target ads effectively on iPhones. Today, the concern is that big Chinese eCommerce platforms like TEMU and Shein will cut spending on Facebook and Instagram.
Such companies’ spending drives have been major contributors to META’s trailing 12-month (TTM) growth, so a pullback in spending would be devastating for Meta. Unfortunately, such a pullback is not unlikely to occur, as TEMU’s parent company recently said it was de-prioritizing the U.S. market citing an uncertain regulatory environment.
These types of things are much less of an issue for BAM. Brookfield Asset Management is an alternative asset manager that has a professional sales and marketing team who are pretty good at raising funds. As long as investors are looking to diversify into new asset classes, BAM will find a client base. One-off events will not impact its revenue as much as they would Meta’s.
Good profitability
Another thing that Brookfield has going for it right now is good profitability metrics. The company has a 67% EBITDA margin (EBITDA means earnings before interest and some non-cash expenses), a 42% net income margin, and a 20% return on equity. All of these metrics are higher than average, indicating that Brookfield Asset Management is very profitable. Note that the ‘net income margin’ figure is from the most recent quarter while the others are from the trailing 12-month period. I could not find a data platform that aggregated revenue (a part of the net margin ratio) for the entire 12 months, so I quickly calculated it from BAM’s first-quarter release.
Foolish takeaway
Taking everything into account, Brookfield has a lot to offer. It might not be a Meta Platforms-calibre growth name, but if dividends are what you’re after, BAM is what you want.
