Here is an update to our article on the top stocks in the Philippines with the highest dividend payout in 2011. Last year, we wrote about companies traded on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that do not only provide income through price appreciation but also through dividend income.
As we have mentioned before, investors must also consider the dividends paid by companies when computing one’s potential income. Most newbie investors seem to be too concerned on capital appreciation that the dividend component of a stock is forgotten.
Dividend income as additional income stream
Like what we explained in the article How are profits made in the stock market?, dividend income is one of several ways that an investor can make money from a stock. Sometimes, dividends even compensate for losses due to a stock’s price declines.
I remember buying PLDT (Stock Code: TEL) shares several years ago during its peak price of P2,800. Two or three years later, the global recession came and my TEL stock tumbled and traded for a measly P2,300. That’s an 18% paper loss on my part.
It was surely heartbreaking but the good thing was, PLDT is one of the companies in the local market that pays dividends generously. In the past, TEL’s dividend payout rate has ranged from 8-10%, which compensated for the paper loss I was incurring.
Dividends as compensation for price decline losses
Annual dividends are fixed income that an investor can already lock in. Factoring that into the computation of one’s total income from stocks, they could very well compensate for any losses brought about by price declines.
I have been holding on to my TEL stock for almost a decade now and, due to its high dividend policy, even if its stock price would tumble back to P2,300, I am already in profit because of the dividends which I have already earned and locked in through the years.
Having said that, I would just like to remind our readers to look into a company’s dividend payout policy when investing because dividends — regardless of the form (may be cash or stock) — provide real, tangible income to investors on top of the income from capital appreciation.
Here now is our updated list of PSE stocks with the highest payout ratio in 2012.
Top Dividend-Paying PSE Stocks — 2012
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Source: Bloomberg (as of December 3, 2012)
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