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.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.Sandy Spring Bancorp in FocusBased in Olney, Sandy Spring Bancorp (SASR) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 26.34%. Currently paying a dividend of $0.32 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.15%. In comparison, the Banks - Northeast industry's yield is 2.02%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.39%.Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $1.28 is up 6.7% from last year. Sandy Spring Bancorp has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 5.47%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, Sandy Spring Bancorp's payout ratio is 50%, which means it paid out 50% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Earnings growth looks solid for SASR for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $3.44 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 57.80%.Bottom LineFrom 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. 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 SASR is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).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 Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (SASR): Get Free Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research