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Why Colony Bankcorp (CBAN) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now

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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 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.

Colony Bankcorp in Focus

Headquartered in Fitzgerald, Colony Bankcorp (CBAN - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -22.46% so far this year. The bank holding company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.11 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.47%. This compares to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 3.11% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.7%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.44 is up 2.3% from last year. In the past five-year period, Colony Bankcorp has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 14.86%. 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. Colony Bankcorp's current payout ratio is 35%. This means it paid out 35% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for CBAN for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $1.31 per share, with earnings expected to increase 2.34% from the year ago period.

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. 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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that CBAN is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).


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