PCB Bancorp (PCB) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. 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 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.PCB Bancorp in FocusHeadquartered in Los Angeles, PCB Bancorp (PCB) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -15.86% so far this year. The company is paying out a dividend of $0.2 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 4.7% compared to the Banks - Southwest industry's yield of 1.16% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.73%.Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.80 is up 11.1% from last year. Over the last 5 years, PCB Bancorp has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 17.40%. 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. PCB Bancorp's current payout ratio is 41%, meaning it paid out 41% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Looking at this fiscal year, PCB expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $2.11 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 21.26%.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. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide 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 must be conscious 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 PCB 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 PCB Bancorp (PCB): 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