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 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

Regions Financial (RF Quick QuoteRF - Free Report) is headquartered in Birmingham, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 7.7% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.25 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.95%. In comparison, the Banks - Southeast industry's yield is 2.36%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.48%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.00 is up 2% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Regions Financial has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 13.34%. 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. Regions Financial's current payout ratio is 43%, meaning it paid out 43% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, RF expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $2.32 per share, with earnings expected to increase 9.43% from the year ago period.

Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. 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. 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 RF is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).