Kenya’s Highest Dividend Paying Stocks

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UPDATED: Kenya’s Highest Dividend Paying Stocks [2020]

Many people invest in dividend-paying stocks to take advantage of the steady income and reinvestment opportunities available. However, it is important to note that not all stocks pay dividends and also, not all stocks that pay dividends are worth owning.

Any stock company worth owning eventually makes real money for its investors and has three options:

  1. Reinvest earnings into the company by expanding operations, increasing business efficiencies, launching a new product…etc. This increases the company’s value which is then reflected in the market price.
  2. Buyback shares so that each remaining share owns more of the company translating to more profitability in the next year.
  3. Return some of the money invested to shareholders in the form of dividends or bonus issues.

If you are reading this, that means your primary consideration is the amount of dividends that the company pays, over capital appreciation (increase in share price).

What Are Dividend Paying Stocks?

A dividend is essentially a small payment of earnings by a company to shareholders in proportion to the number of shares they own.

For example, assume I own a portion of 10,000 shares of KCB whose current market price is Kes. 52. The total value of the shares I own is Kes. 520,000. This year KCB announced a final dividend of Kes. 2. The payment I will get for my 10,000 shares is Kes. 2 x 10,000 shares = Kes. 20,000.

NSE List of Stocks that Pay Dividends

Below is a list of all dividend-paying stocks of 2017- 2018 listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE):

2018

CompanyDividend YieldPriceFinal Dividend
Bamburi Cement0.86%Kes. 175.00Kes. 1.50
Barclays Bank6.37%Kes. 12.55Kes. 0.80
British-American Investment Company (K)2.80%Kes. 12.50Kes. 0.35
British American Tobacco Kenya2.89%Kes. 779.00Kes. 22.50
Car & General (K)2.40%Kes. 25.00Kes. 0.60
Co-operative Bank of Kenya4.08%Kes. 19.60Kes. 0.80
CIC Insurance2.35%Kes. 5.10Kes. 0.12
Diamond Trust Bank Kenya1.21%Kes. 215.00Kes. 2.60
East African Breweries0.75%Kes. 265.00Kes. 2.00
Equity Group Holdings3.70%Kes. 54.00Kes. 2.00
Housing Finance Group3.00%Kes. 11.65Kes. 0.35
I&M Holdings2.80%Kes. 125.00Kes. 3.50
Kakuzi1.92%Kes. 365.00Kes. 7.00
KenolKobil Co1.71%Kes. 17.55Kes. 0.30
Kenya Commerical Bank3.85%Kes. 52.00Kes. 2.00
Kenya Re-Insurance Corporation4.91%Kes. 17.30Kes. 0.85
Liberty Kenya Holdings3.53%Kes. 14.15Kes. 0.50
NSE1.43%Kes. 21.00Kes. 0.30
NIC Bank2.42%Kes. 41.25Kes. 1.00
Sasini Tea & Coffee3.00%Kes. 25.00Kes. 0.75
Standard Chartered Bank5.48%Kes. 228.00Kes. 12.50
Total Kenya3.97%Kes. 32.75Kes. 1.30
Umeme1.70%Kes. 12.25Ush. 7.60

Source: Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) Announcements

2017

Company Dividend YieldPriceFinal Dividend
B.O.C Kenya3.23%Kes. 93.00Kes. 3.00
Centum Investment Company2.71%Kes. 44.25Kes. 1.20
Carbacid Investments5.60%Kes. 12.50Kes. 0.70
Crown Paints Kenya0.74%Kes. 81.00Kes. 0.60
Kapchorua Tea Co.4.05%Kes. 74.00Kes. 3.00
Kenya Power & Lighting6.41%Kes. 7.80Kes. 0.50
Longhorn Publishers6.17%Kes. 4.70Kes. 0.29
Nation Media Group6.76%Kes. 111.00Kes. 7.50
Safaricom Limited3.10%Kes.31.25Kes. 0.97
TPS Eastern Africa1.04%Kes. 33.50Kes. 0.35
Unga Group2.50%Kes. 40.00Kes. 1.00
Williamson Tea Kenya6.67%Kes. 150.00Kes. 10.00
WPP ScanGroup2.94%Kes. 17.00Kes. 0.50

Source: Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) Announcements

Notes: 

Dividend Yield –  here, the company dividends are expressed as a percentage of the current market price. It indicates the percentage of return that you can expect by way of dividends on your investment at the prevailing current market price.

What is A High Dividend Paying Stock?

A high dividend-paying stock is any stock with a dividend yield above 4%, however, I personally wouldn’t invest in any stock beyond 10% in yield. Given the 2017 electioneering and market performance, most of these yields may have changed in comparison to the previous years.

Why 4%? 

It is a sensible cutoff given that the safe withdrawal rate for any investment (particularly retirement funds) is actually 4%. See How to Produce Income From Investing Forever. 

Why Not Above 10%?

  1. Too risky – there are companies that pay dividends to increase failing shares prices. Fortunately, listed companies must announce their financial information – which means that the information is available to anyone who knows how to effectively utilize it.
  2. Most high dividend yield companies are not the conventional blue-chip companies, but rather have unique business structures and risk to be carefully considered.

Highest Dividend Paying Stocks

The following are the Nairobi Stock Exchange’s (NSE)  highest dividend-paying stocks for the periods 2017 – 2018:

Highest Dividend Paying StocksFinal DividendDividend YieldCurrent Price
Williamson Tea KenyaKes. 10.006.67%Kes. 150.00
British American Tobacco KenyaKes. 22.502.89%Kes. 779.00
Standard Chartered BankKes. 12.505.48%Kes. 228.00
Nation Media GroupKes. 7.506.76%Kes. 111.00
KakuziKes. 7.001.92%Kes. 365.00
I&M HoldingsKes. 3.502.80%Kes. 125.00
Kapchorua Tea Co.Kes. 3.004.05%Kes. 74.00
B.O.C KenyaKes. 3.003.23%Kes. 93.00
Diamond TrustKes. 2.601.21%Kes. 215.00
EABLKes. 2.000.75%Kes. 265.00
Equity GroupKes. 2.003.70%Kes. 54.00
Kenya Commerical BankKes. 2.003.85%Kes. 52.00

The dividend yield is one of the main factors to consider when looking to invest in dividend-paying stocks:

Highest Dividend Yield StocksDividend YieldCurrent PriceDividend
Kapchorua Tea Co.4.05%Kes. 74.00Kes. 3.00
Co-operative Bank4.08%Kes. 19.60Kes. 0.80
Kenya Re-Insurance4.91%Kes. 17.30Kes. 0.85
Standard Chartered5.48%Kes. 228.00Kes. 12.50
Carbacid Investments5.60%Kes. 12.50Kes. 0.70
Longhorn Publishers6.17%Kes. 4.70Kes. 0.29
Barclays Bank6.37%Kes. 12.55Kes. 0.80
Kenya Power & Lighting6.41%Kes. 7.80Kes. 0.50
Williamson Tea Kenya6.67%Kes. 150.00Kes. 10.00
Nation Media Group6.76%Kes. 111.00Kes. 7.50

Which of these is Safe?

There are a number of steps or considerations to weigh when picking the safest high dividend-paying stock. You’ll need to take into consideration the biggest risk factors of any company you choose to buy. Here are some of the biggest risk factors to be aware of when selecting high dividend-paying stocks include:

  • The industry the company operates in. What is the general trend of the industry i.e. is it growing or declining?
  • The amount of operating leverage in its business model. How much is their fixed costs (rent, utilities..etc) over their variable costs (costs that vary depending on output or sales)? It is better to have lower fixed costs in relation to variable costs – for instance, take Uchumi it has many stores (fixed rental costs) and without sales, they would not be able to cover their most basic cost.
  • The amount of financial leverage (debt) on their balance sheet. Debt should not more than half of the total invested amount.
  • The size of the company. Is the company still growing or is it at its maturity stage?
  • The current valuation multiple– measures the return on investment.

Should You Invest in the Highest Dividend Paying Stocks?

Not in every situation! Realize that a high dividend-paying stock is paying dividends at a higher rate than average. The reason behind this decision by any company is what you need to seriously consider.

Make no mistake. You might actually find a great company that pays dividends. However, you cannot rule out the greater probability that you might also find a company that is merely looking to drive up share price for one reason or another. Other times, the company may simply be in trouble – you really cannot tell until you look into the business structure and financials. One has to be cautious because companies do adopt accounting tricks to draw in uncautious investors to inflate the stock price to artificial levels.

What’s more, keep in mind that it isn’t mandatory for a company to pay dividends. That is why companies sometimes, a company may pay and other times may choose not to or even vary the amount paid.

Final Thoughts

Dividends are great but value and dividends are even better. Note that not all amazing stocks pay a dividend – some never do. It all depends. Therefore, if you find an undervalued stock that sometimes pays dividends, then you have found a true gem.

Happy Investing!


 Meanwhile, You can click on the following links to read more about financial planning: 


Disclosure: This information is provided to you as a resource for informational purposes only. It is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal. This information is not intended to, and should not, form a primary basis for any investment decision that you may make. Always consult your own legal, tax or investment advisor before making any investment/tax/estate/financial planning considerations or decisions.

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Irene Makanga
Irene has an MBA in Finance and is an avid businesswoman, passionate about financial literacy.

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