Why ING Groep (ING) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. 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 account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.ING Groep in FocusHeadquartered in Amsterdam, ING Groep (ING) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 34.97% so far this year. The financial services provider is paying out a dividend of $0.68 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 6.45% compared to the Banks - Foreign industry's yield of 3.7% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.56%.Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.36 is up 33.7% from last year. Over the last 5 years, ING Groep has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 45.79%. 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. ING's current payout ratio is 31%, meaning it paid out 31% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Looking at this fiscal year, ING expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $2.24 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 4.67%.Bottom LineInvestors 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 their shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. 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, ING 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).5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>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 ING Group, N.V. (ING): 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