After a rather flat performance for the ASX 200 in the last two weeks, the index has had a day in the green today, gaining 0.4% as technology and healthcare stocks rallied. The ASX 200 gained 30.4 points and closed at 7534.9 points. Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals, Appen, and Wisetech Global were the best performers, while Mesoblast was the worst performer during the day.
Top 2 Dividend Stocks To Consider This Week
The earnings season has been a massive hit with dividends galore and several banks and Telstra announcing share buybacks. The ASX is home to some of the best income stocks and for you dividend chasing investors out there, here are the best dividend stocks to consider for your share portfolio.
Our list of top ASX Income Shares to consider this week
Wesfarmers Limited (ASX: WES)
Wesfarmers is engaged in various business operations, such as supermarkets, liquor, hotels, and convenience stores; home improvement; office supplies, and an industrials division with businesses in chemicals, energy and fertilizers, industrial and safety products, and coal.
In FY21 earnings, WES recorded a solid operating cash flow result for the year. Operating cash flows of $3.3 billion were 25.6% lower than the prior year, with strong earnings growth offset by a normalisation in working capital positions across the retail businesses following the lower inventory and higher payables balances recorded at the end of the 2020 financial year as a result of elevated demand. Wesfarmers maintained significant balance sheet flexibility during the year to support continued investment across the Group while addressing ongoing uncertainty. The Group recorded a net cash position of $109 million at the end of the year.
With the strong NPAT that was reported, WES announced a 90 cents per share dividend payout to shareholders. The final dividend brings total fully-franked ordinary dividends for the full year to 178 cents per share. WES shares trade at $59.95 a share with a dividend yield of close to 3%, fully franked – making WES shares one of the top dividend stocks to buy on the ASX.
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)
NAB is part of the big 4 Aussie banks and as we all know, the banks have been performing extremely well in challenging operating conditions. NAB shares are now trading very close to levels seen prior to the pandemic. Increased lending to retail customers and businesses has increased as the government’s stimulus and deregulations around lending has done its bit. The increased lending has offset the low interest rate and NAB has been able to perform well. Dividends are back for the banks as well and this has caused investors to become upbeat about the banks once again. Recently, NAB also announced it intends to buy back up to $2.5 billion of its ordinary shares on-market to progress managing its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) towards its target range of 10.75–11.25%. NAB shares have been brought back since earlier this month and the NAB stock has been one of the top quality blue chip stocks to consider for some time now.
Currently trading at $27.73 a share after a 23% gain this year and with a fully franked dividend yield of 3.24%, NAB shares are definitely worth considering for investors looking at the best dividend stocks to buy on the ASX.
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