Back to top

Image: Bigstock

This is Why Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF) is a Great Dividend Stock

Read MoreHide Full Article

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.

Orrstown Financial Services in Focus

Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF - Free Report) is headquartered in Shippensburg, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 9.69% since the start of the year. The holding company for Orrstown Bank is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.2 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.84%. This compares to the Banks - Northeast industry's yield of 2.86% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.63%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.92 is up 15% from last year. Orrstown Financial Services has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 5.82%. 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. Right now, Orrstown's payout ratio is 23%, which means it paid out 23% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for ORRF for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $3.61 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 2.85%.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. However, not all companies offer 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, ORRF 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).


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Orrstown Financial Services Inc (ORRF) - free report >>

Published in