Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc is the best dividend-paying company in Nigeria, as investors are getting back more for each Naira they invest in the equity position.
The lender’s stock has a dividend yield of 17.18 per cent, which is higher than United Bank for Africa’s, (14.18%); Zenith Bank, (14%); AXA Mansard, (13.89%); United Capital, (12.61%); Total, (10.52%); Stanbic IBTC, (10.53%), and Access Bank, (8.43 per cent).
Dividends provide steady income to investors and most of them perceive it as a signal of a company’s financial strength, which is why there is news of payment that, sometimes, affects the share price.
Of course, dividend-paying stocks are known to have weathered severe market storms as companies with strong balance sheets, steady cash flow, and attractive yields can save investors from inflation as they are expected to grow steadily.
Stanbic IBTC and Seplat Energy have paid interim dividends so far, and it is expected that more will be rewarding their owners from distributable profit.
It must be noted that the equity market rally since the start of the year is partly buoyed by investors’ optimism about steady dividend payments as companies have remained resilient amid a difficult business environment.
The NGXASI has returned 13.95 per cent so far this year, but the momentum in the stock rally has slowed due to sell-offs in bellwether stocks in the last one week.
Culled from Money Central.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Dipo Olowookere