With the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) once again falling this Monday, it's becoming clear that the end of the year might shape up to be a rather volatile time for the share market.
At least, that's the way things look to be heading as we approach the middle of December. ASX 200 shares started December at a seven-month high. But it has been downhill ever since for the ASX. As it stands today, the index has lost around 2.5% of its value over December thus far.
But, volatility can be the patient investors' best friend. After all, being able to obtain ASX shares at lower prices usually does wonders for future returns. So here's one ASX dividend share I'm eyeing off for passive income amid all this volatility.
It's Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW).
Image source: Getty Images
Why is this ASX 200 share on my buy list?
Brickworks is a rather interesting ASX share. It is a market leader in the manufacturing of bricks and other construction materials, of course.
But this isn't just a building supplies company. Brickworks is far more diversified than its name suggests. Construction materials is a notoriously cyclical business. When there's a boom, everyone wants to build houses and buy more bricks and other materials.
But this demand can go just as easily as it can come. When the economy is tight, demand for new properties is scant.
So Brickworks also has a property investment strategy that helps the company overcome the cyclical nature of making construction materials. Brickworks places land it no longer uses for manufacturing into its 'Brickworks Manufacturing Trust'.
It then uses this land to create a supplementary income stream, which helps it to ride out the ups and downs of its primary business.
Brickworks has another earning avenue outside the construction centre as well. It's Brickworks' investment portfolio. This is primarily made up of a massive chunk of another ASX company – Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL).
Brickworks owns around $2.6 billion worth of Soul Patts shares or around 26.1% of the whole company. Soul Patts is a diversified conglomerate with large shareholdings of its own.
It has the unique distinction of being the only ASX 200 share to have delivered an annual dividend rise every year since 2000. This gives Brickworks a useful stream of dividend income for its coffers too.
So all of this adds up to an ASX dividend share I want to buy before 2022 is over.
Why buy Brickworks now?
At present, Brickworks has a trailing dividend yield of 2.89%, fully franked, on the table today. That number doesn't look overly impressive, I'll admit.
But when you consider that Brickworks is a company that also consistently raises its dividend and hasn't cut its payouts since 1976, that yield looks a whole lot more appealing from a passive income standpoint.
At its latest annual general meeting, Brickworks claimed that its shares have returned an average of 12.3% per annum over the last 54 years. That is a record I want to be a part of.
