3 hot dividend stocks I’d buy in March

Royston Wild looks at three income giants that could explode in the days ahead.

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With revenues flowing in from across Europe, I reckon debt purchaser and manager Arrow Global Group (LSE: ARW) is in great shape to deliver stunning income flows in the near term and beyond.

Arrow Global announced in November that total revenues leapt 37% during January-September, to £164.4m, a result that powered adjusted EBITDA 56% higher to £161.5m. The business is benefitting from the steady deleveraging drive by Europe’s banks, and is splashing the cash to expand its loan portfolio across the continent.

I reckon a similarly upbeat full-year statement (currently scheduled for Thursday, March 2) could prompt a fresh upswing in the share price, even though Arrow Global already provides exceptional bang for your buck.

Indeed, the City expects explosive earnings growth to propel an anticipated 9.2p per share dividend for 2016 to 11.6p this year, and to 13.8p in 2018. Consequently Arrow Global sports market-beating yields of 3.6% and 4.2% for these years.

Ad ace

Advertising giant WPP (LSE: WPP) is also due to provide its full-year results next month (scheduled for Friday, March 3). And like Arrow Global, I reckon the release could propel the stock to fresh record peaks.

The Martin Sorrell-steered vehicle saw group revenues race 23.4% higher during July-September, to £3.6bn, with like-for-like revenues advancing 3.2% in the period.

WPP continues to plough vast sums into building its global network, but this is not the only reason to expect the top line to keep rising as the business benefits from sterling’s decline, a situation that is likely to persist as tense Brexit negotiations continue.

And promisingly, WPP continues to see sales striding across all its regions and business segments, a critical quality for those seeking reliable earnings — and thus dividend growth — in the years ahead. Furthermore, rapidly-expanding cash levels at the company should also give dividends a hearty shove.

Consequently the City expects a predicted dividend of 55.4p per share for last year to rise to 63.8p in 2017 and to 70.6p in 2018. This blasts the yield from a decent 3.4% in the current period to a much better 3.7% next year.

Lab lovely

While GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) is not due to update the market next month, I reckon the medicine mammoth’s ultra-low valuations could prompt a share price re-rating in the weeks ahead, particularly if buying into safe-haven stocks picks up again.

And GlaxoSmithKline is a particularly attractive value stock when you look at its dividend prospects. The City certainly expects the pharma ace to keep making good on its pledged payout of 80p per share through to the end of this year, resulting in a monster 5.1% yield.

But this is not the only good news as forecasts suggest the reward could even leap as high as 80.6p next year, keeping the yield running at the same market-mashing levels.

And there is good reason to expect dividends to keep marching higher as new product sales take off — GlaxoSmithKline saw new product sales of £1.4bn during October-December, taking the total for 2016 to a whopping £4.5bn. I believe the Brentford company’s exciting pipeline should underpin robust shareholder returns long into the future.

Should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice.

Royston Wild has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK owns shares of and has recommended GlaxoSmithKline. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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