Why Unitil (UTL) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.Unitil in FocusHeadquartered in Hampton, Unitil (UTL) is a Utilities stock that has seen a price change of 8.36% so far this year. The utility is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.45 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.07%. This compares to the Utility - Electric Power industry's yield of 3.05% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.69%.Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.80 is up 5.9% from last year. In the past five-year period, Unitil has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 3.51%. 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. Unitil's current payout ratio is 58%. This means it paid out 58% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Looking at this fiscal year, UTL expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $3.08 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 3.70%.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.For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers their shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, UTL 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).Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>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 Unitil Corporation (UTL): 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