Home BancShares (HOMB) Could Be a Great Choice

Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. 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 Conway, Home BancShares (HOMB) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of -1.22% so far this year. The bank holding company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.06%. This compares to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 2.12% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.47%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.84 is up 4.3% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Home BancShares has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 9.28%. 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. Home BancShares's current payout ratio is 36%, meaning it paid out 36% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for HOMB for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $2.54 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 8.09%.

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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, HOMB 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).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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