Dividend stocks have long been considered an essential part of a balanced portfolio. While investors can seek out growth stocks to ramp up their returns, the stable, regular income of dividend stocks can help shoulder the load when the markets aren’t cooperating.
In its quest to recognize those stocks that deliver ample payouts, European financier Societe Generale (PINK:SCGLY) recently published its annual report of the top 40 dividend payers across the globe, based on 2011 dividends. And in addition to dropping some whopping numbers — for instance, European telecom Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) paid out 12% last year, and even after its announced cut, still yields 9% — there’s a few interesting trends.
First, a look at the list:
| Company | Ticker | Yield | Company | Ticker | Yield | |
| Telefonica | TEF | 12% | Roche | RHHBY | 4.2% | |
| Banco Santander | STD | 9.9% | Siemens | SI | 4.0% | |
| Westpac | WBK | 7.9% | BP | BP | 3.9% | |
| National Australia Bank |
NABZY | 7.7% | Merck | MRK | 3.8% | |
| Vodafone | VOD | 7.6% | Philip Morris | PM | 3.8% | |
| Vale | VALE | 7.4% | Pfizer | PFE | 3.7% | |
| France Telecom | FTE | 7.4% | General Electric | GE | 3.6% | |
| ANZ Banking | ANZBY | 7.0% | Nestle | NSRGY | 3.6% | |
| Commonwealth Bank of Australia |
CBAUY | 6.6% | Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | 3.4% | |
| AT&T | T | 6.5% | Intel | INTC | 3.2% | |
| ENI | E | 6.1% | JPMorgan Chase | JPM | 3.2% | |
| Total | TOT | 5.7% | Procter & Gamble | PG | 3.2% | |
| Verizon | VZ | 5.1% | BHP Billiton | BHP | 2.9% | |
| GlaxoSmithKline | GSK | 4.8% | Chevron | CVX | 2.9% | |
| Royal Dutch Shell (A Shares) |
RDS.A | 4.8% | Coca-Cola | KO | 2.8% | |
| HSBC | HBC | 4.8% | Microsoft | MSFT | 2.6% | |
| Sanofi-Aventis | SNY | 4.7% | Wal-Mart | WMT | 2.4% | |
| Royal Dutch Shell (B Shares) |
RDS.B | 4.6% | Wells Fargo | WFC | 2.4% | |
| Novartis | NVS | 4.4% | Exxon Mobil | XOM | 2.1% | |
| British American Tobacco |
BTI | 4.3% | IBM | IBM | 1.6% | |
| Note: Companies ranked on blend of 2011 dividends and company-specific characteristics. Share prices used to determine ranking are from Jan. 23, 2012 | ||||||
While emerging markets might be hot regions for growth, no one can beat ol’ fuddy-duddy Europe and the United States for income investing — the regions combine for 85% of the companies on this list. “Oceania” really refers to Australia and its bevy of high-yielding banks — as well as miner BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) at 2.9%. And the emerging market of Brazil did manage to make it onto the list, with miner and metal company Vale (NYSE:VALE) representing South America at an enormous 7.4% yield. The breakdown is shown below:
Broken down by industry, financial, energy and pharma companies are the heaviest hitters in dividends, with a good spread in telecoms — for instance, frequent Dow dividend leaders AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) — and technology.
Kyle Woodley is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Follow him on Twitter at @KyleWoodley.
Assistant Editor Adam Patterson contributed to this report.
