Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. However, 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.Radian in FocusHeadquartered in Philadelphia, Radian (RDN) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 15.16% so far this year. The mortgage insurer is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.14 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.4%. This compares to the Insurance - Multi line industry's yield of 1.77% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.4%.In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.56 is up 12% from last year. In the past five-year period, Radian has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 195.33%. 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, Radian's payout ratio is 21%, which means it paid out 21% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.RDN is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $2.84 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 63.22%.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 RDN is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy). Tech IPOs With Massive Profit Potential In the past few years, many popular platforms and like Uber and Airbnb finally made their way to the public markets. But the biggest paydays came from lesser-known names. For example, electric carmaker X Peng shot up +299.4% in just 2 months. Think of it this way… If you had put $5,000 into XPEV at its IPO in September 2020, you could have cashed out with $19,970 in November. With record amounts of cash flooding into IPOs and a record-setting stock market, this year’s lineup 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 Radian Group Inc. (RDN): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research