Surprisingly resilient consumer demand and individual company strategy contributed to a rise in Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG) shares, Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), and Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) last year.
Amid higher interest rates and prices, consumers showed a willingness to pay a bit more for the goods and services they viewed as essential, including household items, insurance, and telecommunications.
In assessing whether Wesfarmers, Telstra, or IAG shares gave shareholders better returns in 2024, let's examine what matters most to investors: share price growth and dividend income.
On share price growth, IAG shares outperform
For reference, the market benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by 7.49% in 2024 and delivered total gross returns, including dividends, of 11.44%.
Among our three ASX companies, IAG shares outperformed Wesfarmers and Telstra, as this chart shows.
The IAG share price soared 49.5% to close out the year at $8.46 per share.
My colleague Bernd provides a summary of the highlights for IAG shares in 2024.
The Wesfarmers share price ripped 25.4% higher to finish the year at $71.53 per share.
Tristan Harrison reviews the ASX retail conglomerate's performance and operational highlights here.
The Telstra share price had a much more volatile year but closed in the green. You can check out James Mickelboro's comprehensive analysis of Telstra's performance here.
Telstra shares lifted 1.26% over the year to finish at $4.01 per share on 31 December.
On dividend payments, Telstra shares win
In 2024, IAG shares paid an interim dividend of 10 cents per share with 40% franking in March and a final dividend of 17 cents per share with 50% franking in September.
This totalled 27 cents in annual dividends, plus franking, for IAG shareholders.
Wesfarmers shares paid an interim dividend of 91 cents per share in March and a final dividend of $1.07 per share in October, bringing total annual dividends to $1.98, fully franked.
Telstra paid an interim dividend of 9 cents per share in March and a final dividend of 9 cents per share in September. So, Telstra shares investors received 18 cents in total annual dividends, with full franking.
So, in dollar value terms, Wesfarmers shares win. But what about dividend yield terms?
Based on the closing values on 31 December, IAG shares paid a dividend yield of 3.2%. This compares to 2.8% for Wesfarmers shares and 4.5% for Telstra shares, plus franking credits.
So, Telstra shares did best for ASX income investors.
