Overnight the U.S. Federal Reserve's minutes from its latest FOMC meeting revealed that it intends to push ahead with its rate hike plans.
While this is great news for savers in the United States, it seems very unlikely that the Reserve Bank will follow suit any time soon with its own rates.
Luckily the Australian share market has come to the rescue with a plethora of dividend shares that offer yields which smash term deposits and savings accounts.
Three that I think are worth considering right now are listed below:
Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)
Super Retail is the retail group behind brands such as Super Cheap Auto, Macpac, and Rebel. In FY 2018 it delivered a 26% increase in net profit after tax to $128.3 million due to positive performances across the majority of its portfolio. This allowed the Super Retail board to lift its dividend to 49 cents per share, which equates to a trailing fully franked 5.3% yield. Pleasingly, the company has had a solid start to FY 2019 and could be in a position to increase its dividend further this year.
WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM)
I think this listed investment company could be a good option for income investors due to its growing dividend and generous yield. In FY 2018 WAM Capital grew its dividend for the ninth year in a row when it increased it to 15.5 cents per share. This works out to be a trailing fully franked 6.3% yield based on its last close price. And judging by the performance of its funds so far this year, I believe it is well-positioned to make it a decade of dividend increases in FY 2019.
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)
Earlier this week the Westpac share price fell to a five-year low. Concerns over the negative impact of the Royal Commission and a struggling housing market have weighed heavily on its shares. Given the low multiples that its shares now trade on, I feel reasonably confident that its shares have bottomed. This could make it an opportune time to pick up shares, especially with its next dividend due to be announced in the coming weeks. Westpac's shares currently offer a trailing fully franked 7.1% yield.
