Finding shares that can keep growing their payouts year after year is key to successful dividend investing. Over time, these dividend growth stocks can increase an investor’s passive income better than those shares with higher starting yields.
Here are UK two stocks that have a solid track record of rising payouts. And while there’s no guarantee that their impressive runs will continue, I reckon both are worth checking out today.
Coca-Cola HBC
Let’s start with Coca Cola HBC (LSE:CCH). This is a FTSE 100 bottling partner for the US soft drinks giant, selling the likes of Fanta, Schweppes, Sprite and Coca-Cola across 29 nations in parts of Europe, Asia and Africa.
The stock yields 2.4%, which might not seem very attractive. But that jumps to 3.3% on a forward-looking basis, with a near-10% rise forecast next year. This is broadly in line with the past few years, which have seen the payout grow by a compound annual rate of 10.7%.
In H1, organic revenue grew 9.9% to €5.62bn, with sales of energy drinks jumping 30%. The company sells leading energy brands like Monster and Predator, as well as Costa through its coffee segment.
For the full year, Coca-Cola HBC expects growth at the top end of its original forecasts, for both organic revenue (6%-8%) and operating profit growth (7%-11%). That looks solid to me, though sticky inflation and ongoing consumer spending pressures add risk.
Also, the firm operates in Egypt, and a consumer boycott of US brands could grow there depending on what happens with the Israel-Gaza conflict.
On balance though, I think this is an excellent dividend growth stock. The portfolio of top-tier brands should offer both resilience and diversification, as well as long-term growth opportunities across developing and emerging markets.
The valuation also doesn’t look stretched to me, despite the share price rising 33% over the past year. Based on next year’s forecast, the stock is trading at 14 times forward earnings.
3i Infrastructure
Moving onto 3i Infrastructure (LSE:3IN), this FTSE 250 investment trust sports a higher yield of 3.6%. But what does it do?
3i Infrastructure owns large stakes in 11 assets across the UK and Europe. These range from companies providing fibre-optic cables under the sea to renewable power generation (like biogas) and services for offshore wind farms. So it targets themes like the energy transition and digitalisation.
This year, the dividend is forecast to rise 6.5% to 13.5p per share, then another 5.8% to 14.2p. This puts the forward yield at 4%.
Risks include interest rates staying higher for longer than expected, or even rising. In this scenario, debt servicing costs for portfolio companies may increase. This wouldn’t help investor sentiment for infrastructure assets.
Still, I think the long-term dividend prospects remain solid here. The trust has expert management in the form of the FTSE 100’s 3i Group, and a strong long-term record of creating value.
Reflecting this, the trust has traded at a premium to net asset value (NAV) in the past, meaning investors were willing to pay up for quality. Right now though, the shares are trading at a 9.5% discount to NAV. I think this offers an attractive entry point to consider investing.
