United Bankshares (UBSI) 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. 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 the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a 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.

Based in Charleston, United Bankshares (UBSI) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 17.06%. The holding company for United Bank is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.38 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.38%. This compares to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 2.03% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.44%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.52 is up 2% from last year. Over the last 5 years, United Bankshares has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 1.39%. 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. United Bankshares's current payout ratio is 43%, meaning it paid out 43% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for UBSI for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $3.64 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 11.31%.

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. But, not every company offers 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. 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, UBSI 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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