I’m looking for some top UK dividend shares to add to my investment portfolio. Here are four that have caught my attention recently.
#1: In rude health
I think Primary Health Properties is a great way to take the stress out of investing. Why? It invests in healthcare properties and then lets these out to doctors, dentists, pharmacies and NHS organisations.
It therefore doesn’t have to worry about whether its rents will keep rolling in during economic downturns. I think it’s a great buy as, under real estate investment trust (or REIT) rules this UK dividend share is obliged to pay out 90% of annual profits out to its shareholders.
I also think it’s a brilliant buy despite the threat that funding changes to the health service could bring. Primary Health Properties carries a 4.1% forward dividend yield.
#2: Another low-drama dividend share
The PRS REIT is another big-paying dividend share I like the look of. It also carries a prospective yield of 4.1% and, like the aforementioned share, it is obliged to pay nine-tenths of profits in the form of dividends).
This particular property trust builds family homes for the private rented sector, another ultra-defensive section of the real estate market.
In fact the shortage of larger homes for people with families is particularly acute in the UK, helping drive rents steadily higher and with them, profits at companies like this. I’d buy The PRS REIT for my own Stocks and Shares ISA despite the ever-present threat of a downturn in the housing market.
#3: Boxing clever
Tritax Big Box REIT is a share I actually already own in my ISA. I bought it because its ‘big box’ warehousing and distribution assets are in high demand as e-commerce goes from strength to strength.
However, the bigger yields over at its continental cousin Tritax Eurobox suggest it’s another great UK dividend share to buy today.
The forward dividend yield here sits at a tasty 4.3%. Rents are booming because of structural undersupply in this real estate market so these businesses are expanding rapidly to make the most of this huge opportunity.
Though be aware that these firms’ active acquisition programmes involve a range of risks, from overpaying for an asset to picking one in the wrong location.
#4: A FTSE 100 great
I also think buying GlaxoSmithKline shares could be a good idea today. Not only does this FTSE 100 stock sport a hefty 5.9% dividend yield for 2020, but the business changes hands on an undemanding forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14 times too.
Sales at the pharma giant dropped 18% in the first quarter as patients visited GPs less frequently due to Covid-19 and doctors concentrated on vaccine rollouts.
But I’d still buy this dividend share despite the prospect of recurring pressure as the health crisis persists.
But global healthcare investment is set to balloon over the long term. And Glaxo has the might to create an industry-leading drugs pipeline to exploit this opportunity to its fullest.
