The minutes to the February RBA meeting seemed to have cooled expectations of another rate cut in March. However Bill Evans of Westpac – who correctly called the February rate cut, continues to maintain his expectation of a cut in March. Regardless of whether rates will be cut in March, most commentators are unanimously expecting another rate cut this year to support our struggling economy.
Now would be a good time to park your money in high quality, high-yielding dividend stocks instead of leaving them in low-yielding savings accounts. Choosing the correct investment is a very daunting task so below are two suitable candidates to get you started.
G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM)
G8 has been very successful in recent years by following its aggressive acquisition strategy, increasing its domestic footprint by over five-fold since 2010. The country's largest for-profit childcare centre business is set to continue this strategy, announcing the purchase of 12 centres after acquiring 203 new centres in 2014.
The company has a good track record with its acquisitions, and the combination of a fragmented operating environment and further interest rate cuts suggests that 2015 could be another big year on the acquisition front.
At $4.23 the stock has fallen nearly 24% since mid September. It also boosts a meaty dividend yield of 4.4% – considering this represents only 44% of net operating cashflow there is definitely room to increase this.
Dick Smith Holdings Ltd (ASX: DSH)
The jewel of Dick Smith is arguably its Move stores based on the 'fashtronics' concept, one that targets 18 – 30-year-old affluent females who see consumer electronics as fashion accessories. The popularity of wearable fitness gadgets and selfie sticks are trends that the concept has capitalised on.
This concept provides a major point of difference in the heavily contested electronics space, partially shielding the company from the price war in retaining the key demographic of young and middle-aged men.
Move stores are also honing in on travel retailing by opening stores in Sydney airport – a key trend in 2015 according to research from Deloitte.
The retail sector is doing it tough at the moment but Dick Smith presents good growth prospects, sweetened by the attractive 6.85% dividend yield.
Dick Smith definitely provides a great yield, but our analysts at the Motley Fool have uncovered an even better prospect.
