With the cash rate at a record low and tipped by many economists to go even lower before the end of year, it certainly is a tough time for income investors.
Luckily, the Australian share market is here to save the day with a large number of quality dividend shares offering generous yields.
Three top dividend shares that I would buy next week are listed below:
Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)
I feel this footwear-focused retail group could be a good option for income investors. Considering the company has achieved strong profit growth this year despite the weakness in the retail sector, I'm optimistic that it will continue its strong form in FY 2020 if tax cuts and the housing market rebound have a positive impact on consumer sentiment. This could mean Accent is well-placed to increase its dividend over the coming years, which at present provides a trailing fully franked 5.5% yield.
Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC)
I think this international property and infrastructure company could be worth considering. Although FY 2019 has been a disappointing year, a major announcement last week has given its longer term outlook a big boost. That announcement was an agreement with Google in the United States to develop the tech giant's landholdings in San Jose, Sunnyvale and Mountain View into mixed-use communities. This $20 billion mega project is likely to be a very big boost to its earnings and dividend growth over the next decade. I estimate that its shares will provide a fully franked 4.7% dividend yield in FY 2020.
Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
Rural Funds is a property group with a focus on agricultural assets. It owns a large number of high quality assets across six sectors and multiple climatic zones. In February the company reported a weighted average lease expiry of 11 years, which I think is very attractive. This is because it is expected to provide long term rental growth via a mix of rent reviews and indexation. All in all, the company aims to grow its distribution consistently at 4% per annum and appears well-placed to achieve this. This means that next year Rural Funds intends to pay a 10.85 cents per share distribution, which works out to be a forward 4.5% distribution yield.
