All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and, of course, 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.
Based in Charleston, City Holding (CHCO) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 17.13%. The bank holding company for City National Bank of West Virginia is paying out a dividend of $0.87 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.49% compared to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 1.93% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.34%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $3.48 is up 7.4% from last year. Over the last 5 years, City Holding has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 7.86%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. City Holding's current payout ratio is 38%, meaning it paid out 38% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Looking at this fiscal year, CHCO expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $9.00 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 0.78%.
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.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, CHCO 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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