Univest (UVSP) Could Be a Great Choice

Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But 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.Based in Souderton, Univest (UVSP) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 35.61%. Currently paying a dividend of $0.23 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.07%. In comparison, the Banks - Northeast industry's yield is 2.21%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.41%.Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.92 is up 5.7% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Univest has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 1.61%. 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. Univest's current payout ratio is 26%, meaning it paid out 26% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Looking at this fiscal year, UVSP expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $3.60 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 15.02%.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. With that in mind, UVSP 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).Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.See Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks