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.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on 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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Based in Souderton, Univest (UVSP) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 25.53%. Currently paying a dividend of $0.23 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 2.24%. In comparison, the Banks - Northeast industry's yield is 2.18%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.39%.

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 27%, meaning it paid out 27% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for UVSP for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $3.67 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 17.25%.

Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. 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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that UVSP is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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

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