Global Dividend Payouts Rise In 2021 As Apple, Microsoft, Exxon Mobil And AT&T Lead The Way

Dividend payouts continued to rise in 2021 amid a pandemic bounceback, according to data from the latest Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index (JHGDI) report.

The JHGDI is a long-term study into global dividend trends and is the first of its kind. It's a measure of the progress global firms are making in paying their investors an income on their capital. It analyses dividends paid every quarter by the world’s largest 1,200 firms by market capitalization. The report is published quarterly.

“Companies around the world continue to recover from the pandemic. Rising profits and strong balance sheets enabled them to lift their dividends in the third quarter by a record 22.0% on an underlying basis, enough to comfortably deliver an all-time high for Q3 payouts,” according to this quarter’s report.

“The total $403.5 billion in dividend payouts was up 19.5% on a headline basis, even though the third quarter of 2020 was flattered by companies restoring distributions they had suspended earlier in the year as lockdowns descended,” the report said.

Janus Henderson notes that dividends are a top-heavy phenomenon in global markets: according to this quarter’s JHGDI report, the world’s largest 1,200 companies by market represent 90% of global dividends paid. The JHGDI finds the next 1,800 only represent 10% of global dividends paid.

Among the highlights from this quarter’s report: JHGDI found were U.S. payouts rose 10.2% on an underlying basis to a total of $130.7 billion, a record for the third quarter. JHGDI says an incredible 97% of U.S. companies raised their dividends year-over-year or held them steady.

Looking for the top dividend stocks from the third quarter? Data from this quarter’s JHGDI notes that the top dividend payers among U.S. companies for the past quarter included the likes of AT&T Inc. T, Apple Inc AAPL, Exxon Mobil Corp XOM and Microsoft Corporation MSFT.