It's payday for Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL) investors today, who are set to receive a 50 cents per share (cps) dividend, franked to 50%.
So, given the troubles that Coca-Cola Amatil has had of late, what options should you consider when investing that hard-earned cash in the market today?
Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT)
The Afterpay share price has doubled in value since the start of the year and has a market price of $24.66 as at yesterday's close.
While many think that Afterpay is overvalued given its relatively minimal earnings, I think that Afterpay's real growth potential is yet to be utilised by management: data analytics.
At present, Afterpay's share price growth has been fuelled by further expansion and robust sales and partnership growth in Australia and the United States.
The company is due to expand into the UK in the second half of the year and I don't doubt that we'll see further productive results from that venture February 2020 results.
But, Afterpay has a unique position in the market with granular data on each customer's demographics, spending habits, what type of card they spend on, where they spend, etc.
By aggregating this data, Afterpay will continue to build on an enormous dataset with the potential to leverage this in partnership with all kinds of businesses and institutions seeking to understand their customer better.
AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL)
AGL, alongside its fellow oil and gas peers, has benefitted from a domestic gas supply shortage and global oil prices reaching a 5-month high yesterday.
Despite an ongoing dispute with the Federal government over its decision to close its Liddell power plant, AGL could be in a strong position to benefit from a potential change of government in May 2019.
With Labor touting a more renewables-centric energy policy, AGL, as the largest energy company in Australia, is in the box seat to capitalise from higher capex and potential subsidies in the sector.
I like AGL as a defensive diversification option within a portfolio within 2019 as I believe it can provide a hedge of sorts with strong short-term upside and its countercyclical operations softening the blow of a market downturn.
For those Fools who are seeking a little more growth potential, this buy-rated stock could soar higher in 2019 as it tries to capture a piece of this $22 billion industry.
