Macquarie Group Ltd
Over the last year, shares in Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) have easily beaten the ASX, with them making gains of 21% versus 12% for the wider index. That's an impressive level of performance and there could be more to come.
That's because Macquarie continues to be one of the more appealing income stocks in the main index and, with interest rates being cut by 0.25% this week, its shares could become more in demand among investors.
For example, Macquarie currently yields a partially franked 4.3% and has an excellent track record when it comes to dividend growth. Over the last 10 years, it has delivered an increase in dividends per share of 7.4% per annum, which is a superb rate of growth when you consider that the period included the global financial crisis.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
With reduced interest rates having the potential to boost the earnings of banks such as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), their shares could become more popular among investors. Of course, that's not to say that they haven't been in the last year, with ANZ outperforming the wider index by an impressive 5% in the period. However, with ANZ having such a strong track record of earnings growth, its future profitability prospects appear to be encouraging.
For example, ANZ has posted an annualised increase in earnings of 9.5% during the last five years and, looking ahead, lower interest rates could help it to maintain solid growth numbers moving forward. And, with ANZ offering a dividend yield of 5.3%, this indicates that its shares offer good value for money at their current price level and could continue to outperform the ASX over the next year.
Scentre Group Ltd
Over the last seven months, shares in Scentre Group Ltd (ASX: SCG) have outperformed the ASX by 21%, which is a hugely impressive return. Certainly, a loose monetary policy is helping to encourage robust levels of consumer spending and this trend could continue over the medium term.
In addition, Scentre is also a relatively volatile stock, with it having a beta of 1.35. This means that for every 1% move in the ASX, Scentre's share price should (in theory) change by 1.35%. And, with the ASX having strong upward momentum of late (with the possibility of a continuation of this if interest rates are cut again), Scentre could rise at a faster rate than the wider index. As such, it could prove to be a great buy at the present time and looks set to deliver highly appealing share price performance through the rest of 2015.
