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This is Why Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF) 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.

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.

Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF - Free Report) is headquartered in Harrisburg, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -0.27% since the start of the year. The holding company for Orrstown Bank is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.26 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.85%. This compares to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 2.67% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.46%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.04 is up 20.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Orrstown Financial Services has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 7.49%. 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. Orrstown's current payout ratio is 27%, meaning it paid out 27% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, ORRF expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $4.06 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 7.98%.

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. But, not every company offers 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. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, ORRF 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).


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