Most ASX investors love a good dividend-paying stock. If you want to buy a dividend stock for your own portfolio, however, you'll probably be forced to buy shares that pay out passive dividend income only every six months.
From Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) to BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), and Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) to Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), biannual dividend payments are the accepted norm on the ASX.
You can get investments that pay out quarterly passive income. However, these are usually confined to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and ASX shares with primary listings overseas, such as Coronado Global Resources Inc (ASX: CRN).
But let's talk about ASX dividend stocks that pay their investors passive income every single month. These are extraordinarily rare on the ASX, with only a handful of companies offering this perk.
And there's only one that I'd consider buying for monthly dividend income today. It also happens to be well under $10 a share right now.
It's Plato Income Maximiser Ltd (ASX: PL8). Plato Income Maximiser is a listed investment company (LIC). That means it functions as an investment vehicle itself, holding an underlying portfolio of shares for the benefit of its own investors.
The ASX's best monthly passive income stock?
As its name implies, Plato's purpose is to provide its investors with significant dividend income, paid out every month. To this end, its investing portfolio typically only consists of heavy-hitting ASX dividend shares that dole out fully franked passive income.
As of the company's latest update, Plato's portfolio included the likes of CBA and BHP, as well as Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS), Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) and JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH).
But let's talk dividends. So as we've already covered, this company pays out passive dividend income every single month. Since April 2022, this monthly dividend has come in at 0.55 cents per share.
At this LIC's current share price of $1.18, the past 12 months' worth of dividends give Plato a trailing and fully franked dividend yield of 6.06%.
That's obviously quite a chunky yield, especially when you consider you bank part of it every four weeks or so.
But it's not the only reason why I'd happily buy Plato shares today (if I didn't already own quite a few).
Plato Income Maximiser, unlike many dividend-focused investments, also has a pretty good overall track record when it comes to absolute performance. Its December update confirms that investors have enjoyed a total return (franked dividends plus share price growth) of 9.6% per annum since the LIC's inception in 2017.
That comes in above the return of the company's benchmark. Yes, the S&P/ASX 200 Franking Credit Adjusted Daily Total Return Index brought in an average of 9.5% per annum over the same period.
As such, we can conclude that Plato investors have enjoyed chunky passive income paid monthly over the past almost seven years. Not to mention a market-beating investment to boot.
