When it comes to dividend shares, there certainly are a lot of options for Australian investors on the local market.
But with so many to choose from it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. With that in mind, are these popular dividend shares in the buy zone right now?
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ)
Trading conditions may be tough in the banking sector following the Royal Commission and the housing market downturn, but I remain confident that ANZ is well-positioned to achieve modest profit growth this year thanks to its exposure to commercial lending and its cost cutting opportunities. I believe this will allow the bank to at least maintain its dividend, which at present provides investors with a trailing fully franked 6% yield.
Aventus Retail Property Fund (ASX: AVN)
I think this property fund could be a good option for income investors. Aventus is Australia's largest fully-integrated owner, manager, and developer of large format retail centres with a portfolio of 20 centres. In the first half of FY 2019 Aventus achieved a 6.3% increase in funds from operations to $47 million, allowing it to increase its distribution to 4.16 cents per unit. This means that the property fund's units currently offer a trailing 7.3% yield, which is paid in quarterly instalments.
Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
Another top option for income investors could be this real estate property trust. As you might expect from its name, Rural Funds is an agriculture-focused property trust. I believe it is well-positioned for sustained growth in its earnings and distribution over the next decade thanks to its high-quality assets and use of rental indexation. In FY 2019 Rural Funds has provided distribution guidance of 10.85 cents per unit, which works out to be a yield of 4.8%.
