Many, if not most, people think that their current income isn't enough. If you're approaching retirement or are in it, more retirement income could help you pay bills and sleep more soundly at night. If you're far from retirement, more income could be used for a host of purposes, including saving for retirement.
Dividend-paying stocks are terrific for generating income -- because they tend to keep sending you cash no matter what the economy is doing, and over time, the stock shares themselves will also grow in value (assuming the underlying companies are healthy and growing). So let's look at energy giant ExxonMobil (XOM -0.01%), recently with a market value topping $500 billion.
ExxonMobil's dividend is currently $0.95 per quarter, or $3.80 for the year. It has been increased roughly annually in recent years, at an average annual rate of 1.77% over the past five years, so next quarter's payout is likely to be a bit higher. Let's assume that you're looking for $1,000 in dividend income annually. We'll assume a $3.80 annual dividend for ExxonMobil. How many shares will you need to buy? Well, with the stock's recent price of $115, its dividend yield was 3.3%. So to receive $1,000 in dividends, you'd need to buy 263 shares at that $115 -- for a total investment of around $30,250.
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Here's some good news: ExxonMobil's stock appears reasonably valued at recent levels, with its forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.5 near its five-year average of 12.9. The company has promising growth prospects, too, in large part due to innovation. For example, it's transforming low-value energy inputs into higher-value resins, fibers, additives, and battery materials.
ExxonMobil expects demand for energy to grow, and it's very involved in a wide range of energy production, from oil and gas to hydrogen, and it's even producing lithium for batteries. Long-term investors might want to take a closer look at ExxonMobil.
