Looking for some handy extra dividend income to help build your wealth, or maybe just to spend frivolously as it comes in?
Regardless of how you might choose to put that extra cash to use, there's a fair chance you may have been looking into S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) supermarket giants Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL).
Woolworths and Coles have long been popular with passive income investors for their reliable, fully franked dividend payments. Indeed, Woolworths' latest final dividend of 97 cents a share, paid to eligible stockholders on 30 September, represented an all-time high payout.
But before you make any rash decisions, you may wish to run your slide rule over ASX 200-listed wholesale food, liquor, and hardware distributor Metcash Ltd (ASX: MTS) for that dividend income.
As we'll look at below, that's because Metcash shares are trading at a materially higher yield than the supermarket giants.
Tapping into Metcash for dividend income
Before we dive into the numbers, note that the yields you generally see quoted are trailing yields. Future yields may be higher or lower depending on a range of company-specific and macroeconomic factors.
With that said, Woolworths shares have dropped 6% over the past 12 months and are currently trading for $32.69.
As for that dividend income, Woolworths paid out a total of $1.44 in fully franked dividends over the year. At the current share price, Woolies' stock is trading on a trailing yield of 4.4%.
Coles shares have gone the other way, up 19% in 12 months to currently trade for $18.05 apiece.
On the passive income front, Coles paid two fully franked dividends over the year, totalling 68 cents a share. This sees Coles shares trading at a trailing yield of 3.8%.
Which brings us to the dividend income on offer from Metcash.
Metcash shares have come under selling pressure over the past year, down 16% over 12 months to currently be trading at $3.09 apiece.
Despite an accompanying pullback in the final dividend, paid on 27 August, Metcash delivered 19.5 cents a share in fully franked dividends over the year.
On the dividend front, this puts Metcash well ahead of Woolworths and Coles, with Metcash shares trading on a trailing yield of 6.3%.
As for what we might expect from Metcash and its dividend income in the year ahead, the ASX 200 wholesale retailer's most recent trading update was released on 13 September.
Despite noting that "current economic conditions remain challenging and continue to impact consumer confidence", Metcash chairman Peter Birtles was optimistic on the outlook.
According to Birtles:
The company's platform of three diversified businesses is fundamentally strong, and we have the right plans, teams and capabilities in place to deliver future growth as we work through the current economic cycle.
