At their current levels I think the shares of Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and the rest of the big four banks are very attractive, especially for income investors. However, many investors will have meaningful exposure to the banks already.
So, for those investors I would suggest you look at the two dividend alternatives listed below:
National Storage REIT (ASX: NSR)
I think that this storage giant could be a great alternative to the banks thanks to the growing demand for storage facilities due to downsizing from baby boomers and population growth. The company aims to meet the rising demand by growing its network over the coming years and also through the redevelopment of existing sites. I believe this could put National Storage in a position to continue growing its distribution at a steady rate for the next few years. At present the real estate investment trust's shares provide an estimated full-year distribution yield of 6.2%.
Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
Although this real estate investment trust's distribution is not as generous as the banks, I believe it has plenty of room to grow over the next decade. Rural Funds is a trust focused on agricultural assets and currently owns a total of 38 rural properties across six different agricultural sectors. These include wine, cattle, and almond production. One key thing that I like about the trust is that there is a lot of visibility around future cash flows due to the average tenancy on its properties having an average of 12.5 years left to run. This, together with rental indexation built into its contracts, should ensure that Rural Funds' distribution grows at a steady rate over the long-term. At present its shares provide a trailing distribution yield of 4.8%. Further, now could be a good time to consider an investment as its shares go ex-dividend for its latest quarterly instalment at the end of the month.
