All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. 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.Toronto-Dominion Bank in FocusBased in Toronto, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 15.01%. The retail and wholesale bank is paying out a dividend of $0.62 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.82% compared to the Banks - Foreign industry's yield of 1.59% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.38%.Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $2.48 is up 7.5% from last year. Toronto-Dominion Bank has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 9.39%. Any future dividend growth will depend on both earnings growth and the company's payout ratio; a payout ratio is the proportion of a firm's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Toronto-Dominion's current payout ratio is 60%, meaning it paid out 60% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Looking at this fiscal year, TD expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $5.40 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 35.34%.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. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, TD presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong 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 Toronto Dominion Bank The (TD): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research