The Best Dividend Ideas for August 2024

July
was
a
positive
month
for
European
dividend
companies.
The
index
we
use
as
a
benchmark
for
the
Europe
High
Dividend
Equity
category,
the
Morningstar
DM
Eur
Div
Yld
>2.5%
NR,
rose
3.0%
in
euro
terms
while
the
broader
European
market
index,
the
Morningstar
Europe
NR,
gained
1.5%.

But
our
selection
of
the
best
European
dividend
companies
did
even
better,
with
an
average
yield
of
4.7%
(see
the
table
at
the
end
of
the
article
for
each
company’s
yield).

Within
our
list
of
companies,
these
are
the
10
companies
that
gained
the
most
last
month.

Of
the
10
companies,
four
belong
to
the
financial
sector.
In
particular,
UK
banks
Natwest
Group,
Barclays
PLC
(BAR),
French
bank
Crédit
Agricole
(ACA)
and
Italian
bank
UniCredit
(UCG)
stand
out.

The
table
below
shows
the
European
dividend
stocks
on
our
list
that
performed
the
worst
last
month.

Automobile
companies
such
as
Stellantis
(STLAM),
Mercedes
Benz
Group
(MBG),
BMW
(BMW)
and
Volkswagen
AG
(VOW3)
dominate
the
list.

Pharma
Stocks
Continue
to
Raise
their
Dividends

August
is
a
month
full
of
news
about
companies’
quarterly
results,
but
it
is
a
very
quiet
month
for
dividend
payments.
Typically,
companies
pay
out
more
than
one
dividend
during
the
year.
They
may
distribute
an
interim
dividend
that
is
paid
to
shareholders
during
the
year
and
they
may
distribute
a
final
dividend
that
is
paid
at
the
end
of
the
year.
But
a
company
may
also
pay
a
single
dividend.

This
is
the
case
for
most
of
the
healthcare
companies
on
our
shortlist:
Novartis
AG
(NVN),
Sanofi
(SAN)
and
Roche
(ROG).
The
fourth
company,
GSK
(GSK),
pays
quarterly
dividends.
It
is
therefore
a
good
time
to
look
at
dividends
from
this
group
of
companies.

Novartis
(NVN)

Novartis
paid
a
dividend
of
CHF
3.30
on
March
11,
compared
to
a
dividend
of
CHF
3.20
last
year,
an
increase
of
3.1%.
The
company
has
a
tradition
of
increasing
its
dividend
year
after
year
since
1996.
At
current
prices
it
has
an
expected
dividend
yield
of
3.5%,
but
of
the
4
healthcare
companies
on
our
list
it
has
the
least
attractive
valuation.
The
next
dividend
is
expected
to
be
paid
in
March
next
year.

It
is
the
healthcare
company
of
choice
for
managers
of
high
dividend
yielding
European
equity
funds,
ranking
third
in
the
aggregate
portfolios
of
these
funds
at
the
end
of
June
(see
table
below).

Sanofi
(SAN)

The
French
company
paid
an
annual
dividend
of
EUR
3.76
last
May,
up
from
EUR
3.56
the
previous
year.
The
dividend
increase
this
year
was
5.6%.
Like
Novartis
it
has
a
long
tradition
of
increasing
its
annual
dividend,
having
raised
it
for
the
past
29
years.

Of
the
four
pharmaceutical
companies
on
our
list,
it
has
the
highest
dividend
yield
(4.07%)
and
occupies
a
prominent
position
in
the
portfolios
of
high
dividend
funds
(rank
5
out
of
565
stocks).

Roche
Holding
(ROG)

Roche
is
the
third
healthcare
company
on
our
list
to
have
already
paid
its
full
annual
dividend.
It
paid
a
single
dividend
on
March
18
of
CHF
9.60
compared
to
CHF
9.50
last
year.
Of
the
4
companies
in
the
sector
it
has
the
lowest
dividend
yield
(3.45%),
but
the
most
attractive
valuation.
It
trades
at
a
Price/Fair
Value
of
0.73;
that
means
it
is
27%
undervalued
in
the
opinion
of
Morningstar
analysts.

Like
Novartis
and
Sanofi,
the
dividend
growth
track
record
is
impeccable
over
the
last
10
years,
as
shown
in
the
illustration
below.

GSK
PLC
(GSK)

The
fourth
company
in
the
healthcare
sector
that
we
are
analysing
this
month
is
the
British
company
GSK.
Unlike
the
other
three,
GSK
pays
dividends
quarterly,
usually
in
January,
April,
July
and
November.
The
last
quarterly
dividend
it
paid
was
£0.15
on
July
11
(in
July
2023,
the
company
paid
a
dividend
of
GBP
£0.14).

GSK’s
next
quarterly
dividend
will
be
paid
on
October
10
but
to
receive
it
the
investor
must
be
a
shareholder
of
the
company
before
15
August
2024.
This
is
known
as
the
ex-dividend
date.
The
dividend
will
be
announced
on
July
31.

GSK’s
dividend
history
is
more
inconsistent
than
its
competitors.
In
fact,
our
analyst,
Damien
Conover,
believes
GSK’s
dividends
are
historically
too
high.

“Over
the
past
five
years,
GSK
has
paid
a
dividend
of
approximately
70%
of
normalised
earnings,
which
has
likely
limited
some
of
the
ability
to
reinvest
in
the
company
through
both
internal
research
and
development
and
external
acquisitions
of
new
drugs
in
development.

“In
addition,
the
2016
special
dividend
seemed
excessive
and
unnecessary.
Following
the
divestment
of
the
consumer
group
in
2022,
the
company
reduced
the
overall
dividend
to
a
level
that
is
probably
more
appropriate
for
earnings.”

The
table
indicates
the
position
of
the
stock
within
the
index
portfolio
or
the
aggregate
portfolio
of
the
European
High
Dividend
Equity
category.

News
on
Dividends
in
August

2
August:
British
American
Tobacco(BATS)
paid
a
quarterly
dividend
of
58.88
pence
per
share.
The
ex-dividend
date
was
27
June.

6
August:
Koninklijke
KPN
NV
(KPN)
pays
an
interim
dividend
of
0.068
euros.
The
ex-dividend
date
was
1
July.

1
August:
Ex-dividend
date
for
the
next
Reckitt
Benckiser
(RKT)
dividend
of
80.4
pence
to
be
paid
on
13
September.

5
August:
Ex-dividend
date
for
the
next
dividend
of
ING
Groep
NV
(INGA)
to
be
paid
on
12
August.

8
August:
Ex-dividend
date
for
the
next
Unilever
(ULVR)
dividend
of
36.96
pence
to
be
paid
on
6
September.

8
August:
Ex-dividend
date
for
Barclays
(BARC)
next
dividend
of
2.9p
to
be
paid
on
17
September.

8
August:
Ex-dividend
date
for
the
next
NatWest
(NWG)
dividend
of
6
pence
to
be
paid
on
13
September
(to
be
declared
on
26
July).

9
August:
Ex-dividend
date
for
the
next
dividend
of
Koninklijke
Ahold
Delhaize
NV
(AD)
to
be
paid
on
13
September
(to
be
declared
on
7
August).

15
August:
Ex-dividend
date
for
the
next
Rio
Tinto
(RIO)
dividend
of
177
pence
to
be
paid
on
26
September.

15
August:
Ex-dividend
date
for
the
next
GSK
(GSK)
dividend
of
15
pence
to
be
paid
on
10
October.

15
August:
Ex-dividend
date
for
HSBC
(HSBA)
next
dividend
of
10
pence
to
be
paid
on
27
September.

How
we
selected
the
best
European
dividend
stocks

We
first
selected
all
European
stocks,
tracked
by
our
equity
research
team,
included
in
the
Morningstar
Developed
Markets
Large
Cap
Dividend
Leaders
Screened
Select
Index.
This
index
focuses
on
stocks
that
pay
dividends
consistently
and
have
the
ability
to
maintain
those
payments.
The
stocks
are
selected
from
the
Morningstar
Developed
Markets
Large
Cap
Index.
The
Dividend
Leaders
Index
is
comprised
of
the
100
highest-yielding
stocks
that
meet
the
selection
criteria,
including
environmental,
social,
or
governance
(ESG)
criteria
based
on
Morningstar
Sustainalytics
data.

We
then
rounded
out
the
list
with
European
stocks
that
are
included
in
at
least
two
of
the
following
three
dividend
indices:
the
Morningstar
Developed
Markets
Dividend
Yield
>3%
(this
index
tracks
the
yield
of
developed
market
stocks
with
a
trailing
12-month
dividend
yield
greater
than
3%),
Morningstar
Developed
Markets
Dividend
Growth
(this
index
is
designed
to
provide
exposure
to
stocks
in
the
Morningstar
Developed
Markets
Index
with
a
history
of
uninterrupted
dividend
growth
and
the
ability
to
sustain
that
growth),
and
Morningstar
Developed
Markets
High
Dividend
Low
Volatility
(this
index
provides
exposure
to
developed
market
stocks
with
high
dividend
yields
and
strong
financial
quality,
while
favouring
those
with
lower
volatility).

A
total
of
51
companies
were
selected
in
alphabetical
order:

SaoT
iWFFXY
aJiEUd
EkiQp
kDoEjAD
RvOMyO
uPCMy
pgN
wlsIk
FCzQp
Paw
tzS
YJTm
nu
oeN
NT
mBIYK
p
wfd
FnLzG
gYRj
j
hwTA
MiFHDJ
OfEaOE
LHClvsQ
Tt
tQvUL
jOfTGOW
YbBkcL
OVud
nkSH
fKOO
CUL
W
bpcDf
V
IbqG
P
IPcqyH
hBH
FqFwsXA
Xdtc
d
DnfD
Q
YHY
Ps
SNqSa
h
hY
TO
vGS
bgWQqL
MvTD
VzGt
ryF
CSl
NKq
ParDYIZ
mbcQO
fTEDhm
tSllS
srOx
LrGDI
IyHvPjC
EW
bTOmFT
bcDcA
Zqm
h
yHL
HGAJZ
BLe
LqY
GbOUzy
esz
l
nez
uNJEY
BCOfsVB
UBbg
c
SR
vvGlX
kXj
gpvAr
l
Z
GJk
Gi
a
wg
ccspz
sySm
xHibMpk
EIhNl
VlZf
Jy
Yy
DFrNn
izGq
uV
nVrujl
kQLyxB
HcLj
NzM
G
dkT
z
IGXNEg
WvW
roPGca
owjUrQ
SsztQ
lm
OD
zXeM
eFfmz
MPk