Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

First Savings Financial in Focus

First Savings Financial (FSFG Quick QuoteFSFG - Free Report) is headquartered in Jeffersonville, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 74.46% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.15 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.05%. In comparison, the Financial - Savings and Loan industry's yield is 2.93%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.47%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.60 is up 1.7% from last year. First Savings Financial has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 27.91%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, First Savings Financial's payout ratio is 28%, which means it paid out 28% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, FSFG expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $2.65 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 55.88%.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers their shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that FSFG is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).