With the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) surprising many economists this week by deciding to keep the cash rate unchanged at 2%, investors and particularly self-funded retirees can breathe a sigh of relief that any cash they are holding won't endure a further reduction in interest received (for now at least).
Despite not reducing rates this week, many investors still believe there is an easing bias within the RBA. Whether the cash rate is subsequently reduced further or not, the one this that seems certain is that the cash rate won't be headed higher any time soon.
That means the chase for yield is set to continue as investors, including self-managed super funds (SMSF), seek out high yielding dividend stocks to provide much needed income to cover living costs.
Based on a screen of the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) and filtering out stocks that don't have consensus numbers or which are forecast to reduce their dividends in the coming 12 months, here are three of the most attractive income stocks available today…
- G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) – Australia's largest child care operator is forecast to pay a dividend of 25.2 cents per share (cps) in financial year (FY) 2016. With the share price trading around the $3.25 level, the stock is offering up a forecast fully franked dividend yield of 7.75%.
- CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) – This leading building supplier is benefiting from the tailwind of a housing boom. With its dividend forecast to increase to 21.5 cps in FY 2016, the stock is offering a possible yield of 6.7%.
- Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) – while all of the banks are offering juicy dividend yields, one of the most attractive is ANZ's. With the payout expected to increase to 184.1 cps in FY 2016, the stock is trading on a forecast fully franked yield of 6.7%.
