Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock?

Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor’s dream. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

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.

German American Bancorp in Focus

German American Bancorp (GABC Quick QuoteGABC – Free Report) is headquartered in Jasper, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 0.27% since the start of the year. The financial services holding company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.29 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.88%. This compares to the Banks – Midwest industry’s yield of 2.9% and the S&P 500’s yield of 1.53%.

Taking a look at the company’s dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.16 is up 7.4% from last year. Over the last 5 years, German American Bancorp has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 8.81%. 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. German American Bancorp’s current payout ratio is 38%. This means it paid out 38% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for GABC for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $3.06 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 8.13%.

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. It’s important to keep in mind that not all companies provide 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 have to be mindful 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 GABC is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).