- Mining companies are prominent once again in this month's dividend yield screen.
- Aim companies with decent yields in strategically well-placed industries.
Mining shares have had a good 2021 so far. Commodities are seen as a hedge against inflation and as the world economy looks hopefully towards a recovery, there is rising demand for materials. This should bode well for income investors as even in bad times, miners tend to be committed to paying short-term rewards. Giants like BHP Group (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) rank well on our dividend yield screen, as does the Blackrock World Mining Trust (BRWM).
Another old faithful for income investors is defence and aerospace business BAE Systems (BA.), which also scores well. Its order backlog gives an element of visibility over future revenues and the geo-political tensions that exist between the west and both Russia and China, suggest that defence budgets may not be a casualty of post Covid-19 government spending reviews, as may have first been feared.
With smaller companies, investors should think about dividend yield as a value indicator as much as the sign of a dependable long-run income stock. That said, the top three Aim companies look interesting. These are agricultural supply business Wynnstay (WYN), Warehouse Reit (WHR) and Smart Metering Systems (SMS). All are in industries with growth potential, but potential investors should dig into the capital structures of the latter two in particular, as they fail our interest cover test.
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