Dividend Seekers Have Never Had It So Good!

Are we in a golden era for dividend stocks?

The content of this article was relevant at the time of publishing. Circumstances change continuously and caution should therefore be exercised when relying upon any content contained within this article.

When investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you put in.

Read More

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, any form of personal advice. Investments in a currency other than sterling are exposed to currency exchange risk. Currency exchange rates are constantly changing, which may affect the value of the investment in sterling terms. You could lose money in sterling even if the stock price rises in the currency of origin. Stocks listed on overseas exchanges may be subject to additional dealing and exchange rate charges, and may have other tax implications, and may not provide the same, or any, regulatory protection as in the UK.

You’re reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Motley Fool’s Premium Investing Services. Become a Motley Fool member today to get instant access to our top analyst recommendations, in-depth research, investing resources, and more. Learn More.

So the FTSE 100 has only gained 7% over the past five years? You might think that’s made shares a lousy investment. But you’d be wrong, because you’d be reckoning without dividends — and I contend that we’re in one of the best periods for income seekers that we’ve had in years.

The FTSE itself is paying average dividends of around 3.5% per year right now, which would add 17.5% in extra returns over five years, and more if you reinvested the cash — your dividend income alone would beat anything you can get from cash savings hands down.

And what’s more, that 3.5% average includes all the growth stocks that aren’t handing out much cash at all, so you should be able to bag a far better income by concentrating on the big dividend payers.

Five years

Look at National Grid, a utility firm renowned for its dividends. Had you bought some shares five years ago, you’d have paid around 598p apiece. Since then, and assuming forecasts for the year to March 2016 are accurate, you’d have earned 209p per share in dividends — that’s a return of 35% over five years, even without reinvesting the dividends. And the bonus? the share price is up 61% too — you’d have just about doubled your money in total!

How about an insurer like Legal & General, which is expected to pay a dividend yielding 5.5% for the year just ended in December 2015, with forecasts taking that up to 6.2% by 2017. How can you possibly consider a bank savings account offering around 1.5% per year when you can have that? Scared of share price falls? Don’t be — Legal & General shares have more than doubled in price in five years, yet are still only on a modest P/E rating of around 12.

There are plenty of others too. Lloyds Banking Group is on a prospective dividend yield of 5.9% this year, the forecast for pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline is the same, housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has a 6.2% yield on the cards, and there’s 6% pencilled in for high street retailer Next.

And you know what? If you invested in all six of these companies, you’d have a pretty nicely diversified start to what I see as a decent income portfolio.

Reinvest?

Now, there’s one key part of a long-term dividend strategy that so far I’ve only alluded to, and that’s reinvesting your annual dividends (assuming you haven’t yet reached the stage when you need to draw them down for living expenses).

Remember the near-doubling of your money you’d have had from National Grid over five years? You’d actually have made a 96% profit from share price rises plus dividend cash. But what if each year you’d reinvested the cash in buying new shares? Well, you’d have ended the five-year period 108% ahead. For every £1,000 invested in National Grid five years ago, you’d have made a profit of £961 taking the cash, or £1,080 by reinvesting it.

But that would only be the start, as you’d be entering your next five years with 206 shares for every initial £1,000, instead of the 175 you’d have had you not reinvested. And looking back further to ten years, an initial £1,000 would have turned into £2,660 over a decade if you spent your dividends — but £3,275 if you reinvested the cash!

They’re cheap now

With so many high dividend yields available today, I can only conclude that income-paying shares are cheap now — and we should make the most of them while we can.

Should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice.

Alan Oscroft owns shares in Lloyds Banking Group. The Motley Fool UK has recommended GlaxoSmithKline. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

More on Investing Articles

Investing Articles

How I’d use an empty Stocks and Shares ISA to aim for a £1,000 monthly passive income

Here's how using a Stocks and Shares ISA really could help those of us who plan to invest for an…

Read more »

Investing Articles

This FTSE stock is up 20% and set for its best day ever! Time to buy?

This Fool takes a look at the half-year results from Burberry (LON:BRBY) to see if the struggling FTSE stock might…

Read more »

Investing Articles

This latest FTSE 100 dip could be an unmissable opportunity to pick up cut-price stocks

The FTSE 100 has pulled back with the government’s policy choices creating some negative sentiment. But this gives us a…

Read more »

A young woman sitting on a couch looking at a book in a quiet library space.
Investing Articles

As the WH Smith share price falls 4% on annual results, is it still worth considering?

WH Smith took a hit after this morning’s results left shareholders unimpressed. With the share price down 4%, Mark Hartley…

Read more »

Investing Articles

The Aviva share price just jumped 4.5% but still yields 7.02%! Time to buy?

A positive set of results has put fresh life into the Aviva share price. Harvey Jones says it offers bags…

Read more »

Investing Articles

Can a €500m buyback kickstart the Vodafone share price?

The Vodafone share price has been a loser for investors in recent years, and the dividend has been cut. We…

Read more »

Frustrated young white male looking disconsolate while sat on his sofa holding a beer
Growth Shares

3 mistakes I now avoid when choosing which growth stocks to buy

Jon Smith runs through some of the lessons he's learnt the hard way over the years about what to look…

Read more »

Warren Buffett at a Berkshire Hathaway AGM
Investing Articles

Should I follow Warren Buffett and sell my favourite shares?

Billionaire US investor Warren Buffett has been selling tons of Apple shares and other stocks of businesses he thinks are…

Read more »