Many folks dont pick dividend stocks cause they think wobbly share prices mean shaky income - thats not always true
The engineering powerhouse Smiths Group had quite a ride lately: its shares dropped 16% after Sept results but bounced back quick after good Q1 numbers (showing how market mood swings dont always match whats really going on)
The companys doing pretty well with its money-matters: dividend went up 5.2% - beating inflation by two-times‚ and profits cover payouts 2.4x; which means theres room to grow. First-quarter numbers look solid too: sales jumped 13.1%‚ and the company now thinks yearly growth will hit 5-7% instead of 4-6%
Some cool facts about Smiths: its got super-low debt (just 9% gearing)‚ makes 45% of its money in America‚ and is throwing extra cash at share buy-backs - up from £100m to £150m. Since we first looked at it back in 2017 total returns hit 29% with dividends included
The stocks now trading at 16.3x earnings; which seems fair for what you get. Sure its 2.5% yield isnt huge compared to FTSE 100s 3.7%‚ but the steady growth makes up for it - making this a solid pick for long-term dividend hunters