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.

ICL Group (ICL Quick QuoteICL - Free Report) is headquartered in Tel Aviv, and is in the Basic Materials sector. The stock has seen a price change of -6.13% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.04 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.25%. In comparison, the Fertilizers industry's yield is 3.08%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.44%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.17 is up 4.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, ICL Group has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 6.59%. 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. ICL Group's current payout ratio is 38%, meaning it paid out 38% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for ICL for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $0.44 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 22.22%.

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that ICL is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).