Key dividend takeaways from November ASX bank results

Ambitious cost-cutting programs, staff poaching, and tech innovation have added extra drama to the recent bank reporting period, all as big question marks over valuations linger.

While top-line numbers weren’t thrilling, there are various shifts investors should note when considering the forward-looking dividend prospects of our big banks.

In this video, Dr Peter Gardner outlines what stood out for the Plato Australian Shares Income Fund team from the ANZ, NAB, Westpac, and Macquarie results.

The bottom line

Dividend yields across the big banks are still holding up with 5.7% to 5.9% gross yields on offer, comfortably above market levels.

But bank valuations still come with a big question-mark, so over the coming year assessing management performance and thoroughly analysing fundamentals for signals has arguably never been more important for investors.

Banks do remain a critically important part of the market for Australian income-seeking investors, however the only free lunch is diversification. Just buying the big-name dividend stocks in a set-and-forget approach over the past 14 years would have actually delivered very poor income outcomes.

Our highly active and tax effective portfolio management approach has a track record of delivering significantly higher levels of dividends and franking credits for Australian retirees and other income-seeking investors.

Stock commentary is illustrative only, not recommendations to buy, hold, or sell any security.