Westfield Corp Ltd (ASX: WFD) and Scentre Group Ltd (ASX: SCG) have both announced their dividend distribution amounts for the six-month period ended 31 December 2014.
Westfield Corp, which owns and operates all of Westfield's US and UK shopping malls, said that it would pay a 12.3 US cent per share dividend on 27 February, with an ex-dividend date of 11 February. With the Australian dollar currently buying 78.25 US cents, Australian investors would receive 15.7 cents per share in local currency terms. After the company paid a 21 cent (measured in Australian dollars) interim dividend, that puts the stock on a yield of roughly 3.6%, unfranked.
Meanwhile, Scentre Group, which owns and operates Westfield's Australian and New Zealand assets, said it would pay a 10.2 cent per share dividend, giving it a 5.2% dividend yield.
Should you buy?
Westfield Corp and Scentre Group both seem to be attractive investment prospects. While Scentre Group should benefit as consumer confidence increases in Australia, Westfield Corp is exposed to the recovering US and UK economies. Out of the two however, Westfield Corp seems the better buy with stronger growth prospects while it will also benefit from a lower Australian dollar.
