United Bankshares (UBSI) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

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.

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 Charleston, United Bankshares (UBSI) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 18.54%. The holding company for United Bank is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.38 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.34%. This compares to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 2.12% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.34%.

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 46%, meaning it paid out 46% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

UBSI is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $3.54 per share, with earnings expected to increase 8.26% from the year ago period.

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.

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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that UBSI 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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