There has been a swift rebound in the Singapore stock market since the lows achieved in March last year.
Post circuit breaker, business sentiment has also improved markedly.
Although the pandemic may still be raging, the share prices of many companies and REITs have surged from their lows last year.
Partial restoration of dividends has accompanied the rapid rise in share prices across the board.
Dividends play an important role in achieving a comfortable and secure retirement.
But amid the rising share prices, income-seeking investors may feel that they have missed the boat.
The question is — are dividend stocks still worth buying today?
Or is it too late to invest?
The recovery is still on track
Despite the proliferation of the new COVID-19 delta variant, many countries are proceeding successfully with their vaccination programs.
Recovery is therefore still on track, benefitting numerous businesses that had suffered from widespread lockdowns and movement restrictions.
Dividend-paying companies such as VICOM (SGX: WJP) have seen some respite.
Although business activity isnot yet close to the pre-pandemic levels, the group is seeing some improvement for its non-vehicle testing business in its fiscal 2021 first quarter (1Q2021).
Retail REITs such as CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (SGX: C38U) and Frasers Centrepoint Trust (SGX: J69U), or FCT, have reported encouraging recovery in tenant sales.
In particular, FCT’s portfolio’s tenant sales have seen an 11.7% year on year rise for February 2021.
This encouraging statistic, along with the acquisition of five malls from AsiaRetail Funds, has enabled the REIT to report a 28.4% year on year jump in its distribution per unit (DPU) to S$0.05996 for its fiscal 2021 first half.
Resilience during adversity
Investors should not forget that there are a handful of businesses that have displayed resilience during tough times.
Not only have these businesses held their own, but some have also thrived and gone on to report higher revenue and profits.
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