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All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. 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.
Headquartered in Bloomington, HBT Financial (HBT - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 24.02% so far this year. The bank holding company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.23 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.87%. This compares to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 2.16% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.35%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.92 is up 9.5% from last year. Over the last 5 years, HBT Financial has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 7.62%. 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. HBT Financial's current payout ratio is 35%, meaning it paid out 35% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
HBT is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $2.95 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 17.06%.
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.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, HBT 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).
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
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HBT Financial (HBT) Could Be a Great Choice
All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. 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.
Headquartered in Bloomington, HBT Financial (HBT - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 24.02% so far this year. The bank holding company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.23 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.87%. This compares to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 2.16% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.35%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.92 is up 9.5% from last year. Over the last 5 years, HBT Financial has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 7.62%. 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. HBT Financial's current payout ratio is 35%, meaning it paid out 35% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
HBT is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $2.95 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 17.06%.
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.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, HBT 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).