International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) currently pays its shareholders a dividend of over 4% and the company has been paying dividends going back to 1987. IBM also has a strong history of dividend growth and its latest hike this year saw its quarterly payout grow by more than 7%. In five years the dividend has grown by 76%, for a compounded annual growth rate of 12%.
If the company maintains this rate of increase then it will take just over six years for the dividend payment to double. This means that if you buy the stock today and hold it for six years you could be earning over 8% in dividends by 2023, assuming the rate of increase remains consistent.
IBM is still a big player in the tech sector as it offers a wide array of services to its customers, including cloud-based technologies. However, the company has seen its revenue decline over the years, dropping from $98 billion in 2013 to just under $80 billion in 2016, for a decrease of 19%. However, IBM has recently been declining at a slower rate with just a 2% drop in sales in the past year.
With a price to earnings ratio just over 12, IBM trades at a lower multiple than its peers and could be a great value investment today. The company may have lost a lot of the hype and excitement that it once had, but it is still a formidable business that has generated an earnings per share of over 12 in the last four quarters.
