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

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.

TIM S.A. Sponsored ADR in Focus

TIM S.A. Sponsored ADR (TIMB Quick QuoteTIMB - Free Report) is headquartered in Rio De Janeiro, and is in the Computer and Technology sector. The stock has seen a price change of 23.35% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.31 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 4.23%. In comparison, the Wireless Non-US industry's yield is 1.77%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.79%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.61 is up 69.4% from last year. In the past five-year period, TIM S.A. Sponsored ADR has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 6.81%. 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. TIM S.A. Sponsored ADR's current payout ratio is 50%. This means it paid out 50% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, TIMB expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $0.76 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 5.56%.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. 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, TIMB presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).