Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.German American Bancorp in FocusBased in Jasper, German American Bancorp (GABC) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -7.16%. The financial services holding company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.23 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.54%. This compares to the Banks - Midwest industry's yield of 3.02% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.78%.Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.92 is up 9.5% from last year. German American Bancorp has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 11.73%. 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. German American Bancorp's current payout ratio is 29%, meaning it paid out 29% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.GABC is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 is $3.25 per share, with earnings expected to increase 2.52% from the year ago period.Bottom LineInvestors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. 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 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. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that GABC is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). Special Report: The Top 5 IPOs for Your Portfolio Today, you have a chance to get in on the ground floor of one of the best investment opportunities of the year. As the world continues to benefit from an ever-evolving internet, a handful of innovative tech companies are on the brink of reaping immense rewards - and you can put yourself in a position to cash in. One is set to disrupt the online communication industry. Brilliantly designed for creating online communities, this stock is poised to explode when made public. With the strength of our economy and record amounts of cash flooding into IPOs, you don’t want to miss this opportunity.>>See Zacks’ Hottest IPOs NowWant 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 German American Bancorp, Inc. (GABC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research