4 of the 10 stocks that paid the most dividends on the stock exchange sell commodities

In a year marked by a general rise in commodity prices amid the resumption of global activity and the Ukrainian War, raw material producers have stood out among those that most remunerate investors with the distribution of dividends.

A survey by the financial data platform TradeMap points out that, of the 10 largest dividend payers in 2022, until July, 4 are commodity producers.

The leadership is in charge of Petrobras shares, which, in the wake of the results of the second quarter, and the request of the Bolsonaro government to the state-owned companies to anticipate the payment of dividends, announced at the end of July the distribution of R$ 87.8 billion to shareholders. .

CSN Mineração and Enauta Participações, from the oil and gas sector, also appear among the highlights of the period.

For the study, the dividend yield indicator was considered, which measures the volume of dividends distributed in relation to the share price traded on the Stock Exchange.

Known for its stable cash generation, contracts indexed to inflation and for being a traditional payer of dividends to shareholders, the energy sector, through CPFL Energia and EDP — Energias do Brasil, also stands out among publicly traded companies. with the highest dividend distribution in 2022.

“Only one of the companies currently pays the current Selic level, which is Petrobras, in view of the company’s strong cash generation in recent months”, says Jader Lazarini, CNPI analyst at TradeMap.

On a rise since the beginning of last year, the Selic rate rose from the historic low of 2% per year to the current 13.75%, with the market betting that the Copom (Monetary Policy Committee) can once again promote up 0.25 percentage point at the next meeting in September, taking interest rates to 14% a year.

The TradeMap analyst adds that it is important to note that the yield offered by the Selic is in the 12-month interval, while the indicator that measures the level of dividend yield considers the period from the year 2022 to July.

High oil prices and operating results offset Petrobras’ political risk, say managers

According to Rodrigo Santoro, head of variable income at Bradesco Asset, the bank manager’s dividend funds focus on sectors that are traditionally known for offering returns to investors through the payment of dividends.

As a result, commodity producers such as Petrobras and Vale, large banks (Itaú and Bradesco) and energy companies (Eletrobras and Energisa) are among the main positions in the portfolios.

The state-owned oil company, in particular, is today one of the biggest bets on Bram’s dividend funds, says Santoro, adding that, despite the political risk inherent to the company, the value considered to be quite discounted from the shares on the stock exchange, and the strong operating results, more than compensate for the uncertainties about possible attempts at political intervention.

Santoro also says that in recent months he has promoted a reduction in the position carried in Vale, with the slowdown of the Chinese economy and the drop in the price of iron ore in the international market.

But that, in the case of oil, the outlook for the segment is more positive and sustainable, given a reheating of the economy on a global scale after the pandemic, and the restrictions on increasing the supply of the commodity.

The Bram specialist also recalls that the shares of companies on the Stock Exchange suffer a discount proportional to the dividend paid per share at the time of payment. This amount received from the distribution of the remuneration by the funds of the manager is reinvested in the shares in the portfolio, with the focus on enhancing the return and extracting the maximum value in the medium and long term from the positive perspectives for the development of the business, says Santoro.

Banks resume payments with robust results after the pandemic

Luiz Fernando Missagia, variable income manager at Icatu Vanguarda, says that one of the main bets in the portfolio of the house’s dividend funds is currently in large banks, such as Itaú and Bradesco.

He recalls that banks had the distribution of profits limited by the government during the pandemic, in order to generate a liquidity cushion to prepare for a more adverse economic scenario.

According to the most recent results, referring to the second quarter of 2022, however, banks showed that they were able to show robust growth in loan portfolios and profits, with a level of delinquency still relatively controlled, says the manager of Icatu Vanguarda.

In the second quarter, the four major banks —Itaú Unibanco, Bradesco, Santander and BB (Banco do Brasil)— reported a combined net income of R$26.6 billion, a figure that corresponds to a growth of 20.5% in comparison with the same period last year.

Missagia says that Petrobras is also today among one of the largest positions in the portfolio of Icatu’s dividend fund.

In the expert’s assessment, with the global restriction of oil supply to meet demand, and with the price of the commodity managing to sustain itself around the current level, Petrobras should maintain strong cash generation in the coming months.

The State-Owned Companies Law and the improvements in governance over the last few years, says Missagia, contribute to the company being able to have some protection against government intervention in relation to the recent past, maintaining a profitable policy for its investments.

The energy sector, via CPFL, Engie and Equatorial, which benefit from higher inflation through contracts indexed to price indices, also make up Icatu Vanguarda’s dividend portfolios.

Retail and health are also present in the dividend portfolios

In addition to exposure to the most common sectors to be found in dividend funds, the Bram manager also points out the retailers Arezzo and Lojas Renner among the shares in the portfolios dedicated to the niche.

“These are companies that we believe that, in the long term, will be great payers of dividends”, says Santoro.

Variable income manager at Inter Asset, Rafael Cota Maciel also points out the shares of the dental network Odontoprev among the bets in the portfolio of the dividend fund of the manager, among those that are a little outside the common sense of the market.

Odontoprev is a leader in its sector, and operates in a niche considered more defensive and secure than the stock exchange average, less susceptible to market volatility and the performance of economic activity, says Maciel.

Most of the portfolio of the fund dedicated to good dividend payers of Inter Asset, however, is also reserved for more traditional sectors —commodity exporters (Petrobras, Vale and Gerdau), the financial sector (BB and BB Seguridade) and energy (Taesa and Transmissão Paulista).

“We are in a good moment to invest in good dividend-paying stocks, because there are a lot of cheap things on the stock market”, says the manager of Inter Asset.

He recalls that, the more discounted stock prices are in relation to the value estimated by investors, the greater the dividend yield offered by the company tends to be, since the indicator is a result of the relationship between the value of the dividend paid and the value of the stock traded on the stock exchange.

The Inter Asset manager also adds that, given the profile of dividend-paying companies, with strong cash generation available to be distributed to shareholders, they have been able to better navigate the country’s macroeconomic environment of high interest rates, pressured inflation and weak economic growth. –While the Ibovespa index advanced 6.3% in the year up to August 19, the B3 Idiv (Dividend Index) rose by 14% in the same range.