Having a diverse portfolio is one of the best defences against risk for any investor. It's quite risky to have all of your capital invested in just one or two businesses or properties, it is putting all of your eggs in one basket.
You should always be on the lookout to add strong businesses to your portfolio. 'Strong' doesn't have to mean the size of the business, it can be the strength of its brand, its management or its balance sheet.
Here are three businesses I think could be worth adding to a dividend portfolio:
Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC)
Vocus is one of Australia's largest telecommunications businesses with a market capitalisation of $2.6 billion. It owns a variety of brands to service household and business telecommunication needs.
It has acquired several businesses in recent years which are now generating meaningful synergies for the business and could boost profit in the years to come.
It also has a growing network of fibre optic cables that it can use to transmit its own data to customers and sell to other telecommunication companies.
Vocus is trading at 12.4x FY17's estimated earnings with a grossed-up dividend yield of 4.78%.
DuluxGroup Limited (ASX: DLX)
DuluxGroup is one of Australia's largest home improvement businesses with a market capitalisation of $2.59 billion.
It owns a variety of brands including Dulux, British Paints, Selleys, Cabot's and Yates. These brands have a great market presence and management can confidently increase prices without much negative impact.
Property owners will potentially paint their property at any stage of the property cycle and it's fairly inexpensive to do so. Dulux is quite defensive because it hopefully wouldn't see much of a hit to revenue in a recession.
DuluxGroup is trading at 19x FY17's estimated earnings with a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.16%.
Australian United Investment Company Ltd (ASX: AUI)
Australian United Investment is one of the largest listed investment companies (LIC) on the ASX with a market capitalisation of $967 million.
It has been running since 1953 and owns all the usual blue chips but also has a few different big investments which makes it stand out compared to others like Argo Investments Limited (ASX: ARG).
It has maintained or grown its dividend every year since 1992 and it has a grossed-up yield of 6.21%.
Foolish takeaway
I think all three of these companies are worth adding to an income portfolio, which should add delightful dividends to your returns.
These businesses aren't the only great dividend shares out there. The Motley Fool's brand new service, Everlasting Income, will take the hard work out of identifying great dividend-paying companies for you.
