The dividend yield your investment portfolio achieves is set to become even more important in today's economic climate of higher interest rates and inflation.
That's the opinion of top broker Morgan Stanley, which says: "The next several years are likely to be marked by lower equity returns and higher volatility, which could lead dividends to account for a greater portion of total stock market return".
Australian fundie Michael O'Neill of Investors Mutual takes it a step further. He reckons capital growth will likely be lower over the next decade, and in his view that makes dividends "critical".
As my Fool colleague Seb recently pointed out, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had extremely little growth since COVID hit us three years ago. Dividends have been the only real form of returns.
With all of this in mind, let's consider which ASX 200 shares are offering the best dividend yields today.
In this article, we're going to look at ASX 200 mid-cap shares. These stocks have a market capitalisation of between $2 billion and $10 billion.
Best dividend yields among the ASX 200 mid-caps
According to data provided by TradingView, the ASX 200 mid-cap shares offering the best trailing dividend yields today include ASX coal shares, financial shares, energy shares, and retail shares.
They are:
| ASX 200 MID-CAP SHARE | ASX DIVIDEND YIELD | PAID PER SHARE |
| Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL) | 26.3% | $1.23 |
| New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) | 19.9% | 96 cents |
| BSP Financial Group Ltd (ASX: BFL) | 12.7% | 61.6 cents |
| Zimplats Holdings Ltd (ASX: ZIM) | 12.3% | $2.96 |
| Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) | 10.7% | 72 cents |
| Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA) | 9.1% | 27 cents |
| Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) | 8.7% | 30.5 cents |
| Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX: IPL) | 8.3% | 23 cents |
| JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) | 7.9% | $3.50 |
| Bank of Queensland Ltd (ASX: BOQ) | 7.9% | 44 cents |
What are trailing dividend yields?
Trailing dividend yields are calculated by taking the most recent total annual dividend amount paid by a company and dividing it by today's share price.
Hence, trailing dividends reflect the previous year's income. This is especially important to remember when considering mining stocks for investment.
Commodity prices fell in FY23, and as we recently reported, the federal government expects most commodity prices to keep declining in FY24 and FY25.
In addition, some of the stocks above, such as New Hope shares, paid special dividends in FY23.
Do you prefer ASX 200 large caps?
If you tend to be a highly conservative investor, you may prefer to invest in large-cap shares.
So, check out our article on which ASX 200 large-cap shares offer the best dividend yields.
Large-cap shares have a market capitalisation of more than $10 billion.
