All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

TIM S.A. Sponsored ADR (TIMB Quick QuoteTIMB - Free Report) is headquartered in Rio De Janeiro, and is in the Computer and Technology sector. The stock has seen a price change of 74.57% since the start of the year. The company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.18 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.22%. This compares to the Wireless Non-US industry's yield of 2.7% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.48%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.87 is up 56.5% from last year. Over the last 5 years, TIM S.A. Sponsored ADR has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 9.26%. 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. TIM's current payout ratio is 60%, meaning it paid out 60% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

TIMB is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $1.38 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 14.05%.

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. 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. With that in mind, TIMB is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).