First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) Could Be a Great Choice

All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, 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 Financial Bancorp in FocusHeadquartered in Cincinnati, First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -14.7% so far this year. The holding company for First Financial Bank is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.24 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.19%. This compares to the Banks - Midwest industry's yield of 3.44% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.65%.In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.96 is up 2.1% from last year. In the past five-year period, First Financial Bancorp has increased its dividend 1 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 0.65%. 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 Financial's payout ratio is 36%, which means it paid out 36% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Earnings growth looks solid for FFBC for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $2.64 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 0.76%.Bottom LineFrom 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. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, FFBC 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).7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.9% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks