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This is Why The First of Long Island (FLIC) is a Great Dividend Stock

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Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on 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.

The First of Long Island in Focus

The First of Long Island (FLIC - Free Report) is headquartered in Glen Head, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -14.08% since the start of the year. The holding company for The First National Bank of Long Island is paying out a dividend of $0.2 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 4.31% compared to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 2.33% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.56%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.80 is up 3.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, The First of Long Island has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 7.84%. 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. The First of Long Island's current payout ratio is 43%, meaning it paid out 43% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

FLIC is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $1.97 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 8.84%.

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. 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, FLIC 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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