Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (EBMT) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

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.While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on 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.Headquartered in Helena, Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (EBMT) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 12.65% so far this year. The company is paying out a dividend of $0.14 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.36% compared to the Banks - Midwest industry's yield of 3.04% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.49%.Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.58 is up 2.7% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 8.76%. 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. Eagle Bancorp Montana's current payout ratio is 36%, meaning it paid out 36% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.EBMT is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $1.73 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 39.52%.Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. But, not every company offers 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, EBMT 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. Little-known AI firms tackling the world's biggest problems may be more lucrative in the coming months and years.See "2nd Wave" AI stocks now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (EBMT): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks