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Why Civista Bancshares (CIVB) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. 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 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.

Civista Bancshares in Focus

Civista Bancshares (CIVB - Free Report) is headquartered in Sandusky, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 18.31% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.11 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.13%. In comparison, the Banks - Midwest industry's yield is 2.65%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.92%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.44 is up 37.5% from last year. In the past five-year period, Civista Bancshares has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 16.73%. 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, Civista Bancshares's payout ratio is 23%, which means it paid out 23% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, CIVB expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $2 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 8.11%.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. However, not all companies offer 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, CIVB 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).


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