Why NBT Bancorp (NBTB) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. 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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.NBT Bancorp in FocusNBT Bancorp (NBTB) is headquartered in Norwich, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -9.17% since the start of the year. The financial holding company is paying out a dividend of $0.34 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.14% compared to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 2.89% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.57%.Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.36 is up 3% from last year. In the past five-year period, NBT Bancorp has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 5.42%. 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. Right now, NBT's payout ratio is 46%, which means it paid out 46% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Looking at this fiscal year, NBTB expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $3.69 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 25.51%.Bottom LineInvestors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that NBTB is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).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 +24.3% 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 NBT Bancorp Inc. (NBTB): 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