Is AbbVie a Great Dividend Stock?

Dividend investors sometimes fixate on a stock's yield to judge its greatness as an income investment. But that number is only part of the story, and arguably not the most important part.

A high dividend payout may simply mean that the company is prioritizing returning its cash flow to investors over reinvesting that cash in the business to produce growth. That could be appropriate for some mature or regulated businesses that have limited growth opportunities. But the best dividend stocks have a growth component, and investors will build more wealth in the long run by choosing companies that are balancing growth investments with payouts to shareholders.

Does pharmaceutical giant AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) measure up as a great dividend stock? Let's look at both the size of its dividend and the company's ability to grow it in the future.

Source Fool.com