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 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.

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (EBMT Quick QuoteEBMT - Free Report) is headquartered in Helena, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 9.46% since the start of the year. The company is paying out a dividend of $0.14 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.4% compared to the Banks - Midwest industry's yield of 3.29% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.5%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.57 is up 0.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 8.76%. 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. Eagle Bancorp Montana's current payout ratio is 36%, meaning it paid out 36% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

EBMT is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $1.72 per share, with earnings expected to increase 38.71% 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. 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 its shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. Income investors must be conscious 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 EBMT is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).