Zions (ZION) 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.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.Zions in FocusZions (ZION) is headquartered in Salt Lake City, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 7.08% since the start of the year. The financial holding company is paying out a dividend of $0.43 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.96% compared to the Banks - West industry's yield of 2.65% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.5%.Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.72 is up 3.6% from last year. Zions has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 5.51%. 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, Zions's payout ratio is 33%, which means it paid out 33% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Earnings growth looks solid for ZION for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $4.96 per share, with earnings expected to increase 0.20% from the year ago period.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. With that in mind, ZION 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 +24.1% 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 Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (ZION): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks