Home BancShares (HOMB) 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 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 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.Home BancShares in FocusHome BancShares (HOMB) is headquartered in Conway, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 0.95% since the start of the year. The bank holding company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.19 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.73%. This compares to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 2.4% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.57%.Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.78 is up 4% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Home BancShares has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 9.70%. 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. Home BancShares's current payout ratio is 39%. This means it paid out 39% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.HOMB is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $2.19 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 8.96%.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. But, not every company offers 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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that HOMB is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is among the most innovative financial firms. With a fast-growing customer base (already 50+ million) and a diverse set of cutting edge solutions, this stock is poised for big gains. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant 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 Home BancShares, Inc. (HOMB): 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