Some of the top stocks for 2021 will compensate investors with steady dividends
Last year was a tale of two halves for dividend equities.
Owing to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the first half of 2020 was chock full
of payout cuts and suspensions by S&P 500 member firms, but dividends
rebounded mightily in the second half of the year, indicating that many of the
top stocks for 2021 are dividend payers.
The fourth-quarter trajectory of S&P 500 payouts
indicates that the darkest clouds of the coronavirus cuts have passed. And
dividend investors could be in for better things this year.
“Indicated dividend net changes (increases less decreases)
for U.S. domestic common stocks increased $9.5 billion during Q4 2020, compared
to a decline of $2.3 billion in Q3 2020, and a gain of $10.6 billion in Q4
2019,” noted the S&P Dow Jones Indices. “For Q4 2020, aggregate increases
amounted to $13.9 billion, up 64.2% from the $8.4 billion increase of Q3 2020
and up 15.7%, from Q4 2019’s $12.0 billion. Aggregate dividend cuts decreased
59.8% to $4.3 billion from Q3 2020’s $10.8 billion in cuts, and was up 221%
from the $1.3 billion in cuts for Q4 2019.”
Adding to the case for dividends in 2021 are recent dividend
futures data, which, as Goldman Sachs notes, implies those contracts could
bring cuts. But the bank says that’s a case of mispricing and that dividends
should rise this year.
With that opportunity ahead, here are some of the top
dividend stocks to consider for 2021:
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