Finding quality ASX dividend shares can be a tricky process. As we all learned the hard way last year, a seemingly good dividend-paying investment can turn out to be less than what we hope for. After all, there are no guarantees when it comes to dividends – a company can cancel a dividend faster than you can say franking.
However, these two dividend shares could be worth considering for income today, judging by their performance over the past 12 months and beyond.
Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)
Super Retail Group is an ASX retail powerhouse. This company is the name behind popular retail chains like Macpac, BCF, Super Cheap Auto and Rebel. It turns out that the coronavirus-induced lockdowns last year actually proved to be a big winner for Super Retail. In its earnings report for the 6 months to 31 December 2020 that was released back in February, Super Retail reported group sales of $1.78 billion. That included online sales growth of 87% and overall was a 23% increase from the prior corresponding period. Underlying net profit after tax also rocketed 139%, helping to fund a 33 cents per share dividend for the half.
On current pricing, Super Retail shares offer a trailing yield of 4.5%, which grosses up to a 6.43% yield with Super Retail's full franking.
BetaShares S&P 500 Yield Maximiser (ASX: UMAX)
The second ASX dividend share to consider today is a whole different kettle of fish. This exchange-traded fund (ETF) holds the companies in the American S&P 500 (INDEXSP: .INX), an index not normally known for its high dividends.
However, this ETF doesn't do things the conventional way. It employs a unique strategy of using covered call options to increase the fund's potential for generating income. These covered calls help the fund to generate extra income on top of the dividends it receives from its shareholdings. This strategy increases the income the fund produces and also decreases its volatility compared to the broader market. However, it does so by forfeiting some overall performance (there's no free lunch here). Long story short, you can expect higher income and lower volatility in exchange for lower performance compared to a pure S&P 500 ETF.
UMAX pays a dividend distribution quarterly and currently has a 12-month trailing yield of 6.8%. The fund also charges a management fee of 0.79% per annum. It has returned an average of 10.16% per annum since its inception in 2014.
