All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. However, 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 the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

Community Trust Bancorp in Focus

Headquartered in Pikeville, Community Trust Bancorp (CTBI) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 1.81% so far this year. The bank holding company for Community Trust Bank is paying out a dividend of $0.47 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.48% compared to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 2.33% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.53%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.88 is up 1.1% from last year. In the past five-year period, Community Trust Bancorp has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 5.47%. Any future dividend growth will depend on both earnings growth and the company's payout ratio; a payout ratio is the proportion of a firm's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Community Trust Bancorp's current payout ratio is 43%, meaning it paid out 43% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, CTBI expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $4.89 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 6.07%.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.

Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, CTBI is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).

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