There's a good reason many ASX dividend investors own National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) shares.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank stock has a lengthy track record of delivering reliable passive income. In fact, NAB shares have delivered two annual, fully franked dividends every year for more than 10 years running now.
Over the past 12 months, the ASX 200 bank paid a final 84 cents per share dividend on 15 December and an 84 cents per share interim dividend, which will be paid on 3 July.
At Friday's closing price of $33.81, that sees NAB shares trading on a fully franked trailing yield of 4.97%.
Now that's an attractive yield. Especially as the NAB share price has also gained 29% over the past 12 months.
But there's another ASX dividend stock I'd add to my passive income portfolio before NAB.
Namely ASX 200 utility Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG).
Here's why.
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Why I'd buy this ASX dividend star for 2024
The Origin share price has also outperformed over the past 12 months.
At Friday's closing price of $9.93 a share, the ASX dividend stock is up 18% since this time last year.
As for that passive income, Origin paid a final dividend of 20 cents per share on 29 September. Origin paid out the interim dividend of 27.5 cents per share on 28 March for a full-year payout of 47.5 cents per share, fully franked.
Based on Friday's closing price, that works out to a fully franked trailing yield of 4.78%.
Now, I know what you may be thinking.
Not only has the NAB share price outpaced the Origin share price over the past year, but NAB shares also trade at a slightly higher yield.
Indeed.
But it's the future we're eyeing here. Not the past.
While I believe 2024 and 2025 will continue to see NAB pay out healthy dividends, I think Origin shares will surpass those.
And I think the ASX dividend stock could also see continued strong share price gains.
Among the reasons for my bullish assessment is the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence.
As with the rise of cryptocurrencies over the past decade, AI is forecast to see a massive surge in electricity demand. And I believe utilities like Origin are well-placed to benefit from that surging growth, which could boost the income from this ASX dividend stock.
So, what kind of demand growth are we talking about here?
In April, NextDc Ltd (ASX: NXT) CEO Craig Scroggie said that AI-capable data centres will require 10 times as much juice as traditional data centres.
And amid the explosive growth of AI, a raft of those new AI data centres is expected to come online over the next few years, both from NextDc and others.
Manju Naglapur, general cloud manager at Unisys Corp, recently noted:
Power demand from data centres has already been humongous, then came the AI hype and the need for power skyrocketed. With all the money spent on data centres, the power consumption will increase massively.
That massive increase should bode well for Origin's dividends in 2024 and beyond.
As always, before buying any ASX dividend stock or any other company, be sure to do your own research first. Or simply reach out for some expert advice.
