All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. However, 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 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.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ Quick QuoteJNJ - Free Report) is headquartered in New Brunswick, and is in the Medical sector. The stock has seen a price change of 13.19% since the start of the year. The world's biggest maker of health care products is paying out a dividend of $1.30 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.18% compared to the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry's yield of 2.38% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.52%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $5.20 is up 5.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Johnson & Johnson has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 5.37%. 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. Johnson & Johnson's current payout ratio is 52%, meaning it paid out 52% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for JNJ for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $10.83 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 8.52%.

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers its 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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that JNJ is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).