All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, 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.First Industrial Realty Trust in FocusHeadquartered in Chicago, First Industrial Realty Trust (FR) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 27.44% so far this year. The real estate investment trust is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.27 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.01%. This compares to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield of 2.9% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.4%.Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.08 is up 8% from last year. Over the last 5 years, First Industrial Realty Trust has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 6.81%. 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, First Industrial Realty Trust's payout ratio is 58%, which means it paid out 58% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Earnings growth looks solid for FR for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $1.93 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 4.89%.Bottom LineInvestors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide 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. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, FR 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). Tech IPOs With Massive Profit Potential: Last years top IPOs surged as much as 299% within the first two months. With record amounts of cash flooding into IPOs and a record-setting stock market, this year could be even more lucrative. See Zacks’ Hottest Tech IPOs Now >>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 First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (FR): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.