Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

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

Targa Resources, Inc. (TRGP Quick QuoteTRGP - Free Report) is headquartered in Houston, and is in the Oils-Energy sector. The stock has seen a price change of -15.75% since the start of the year. The company is paying out a dividend of $1.00 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.66% compared to the Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing - Master Limited Partnerships industry's yield of 7.01% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.48%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $4.00 is up 45.5% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Targa Resources, Inc. has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 69.99%. 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. Targa Resources's current payout ratio is 57%, meaning it paid out 57% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

TRGP is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $7.97 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 38.85%.

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.

Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. 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, TRGP 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).