The names of five dividend shares have been revealed as picks for reliable income.
It's more important than ever to find those reliable dividend shares at the moment because plenty of dividend shares aren't paying like normal.
Shares like National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Transurban Group (ASX: TCL), Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) have all made it clear that normal dividends won't be paid.
Australia and the globe is expected to go through a lot of pain this year. Economies may be stretched to the limit.
So what dividend shares are ones that you can rely on?
An Australian Financial Review article has named five shares:
Amcor Limited (ASX: AMC) is a packaging giant that recently merged with Bemis in the US. It had already been a solid dividend share and its earnings are holding up well despite the coronavirus. Amcor actually increased its guidance this week.
Ausnet Services Ltd (ASX: AST) is an energy infrastructure business. It owns and operates the Victorian electricity transmission network. It also owns one of five electricity distribution networks, and one of three gas distribution networks in Victoria.
APA Group (ASX: APA) is another energy infrastructure business. It owns a large network of gas pipelines around Australia. APA also owns stakes in other energy investments. APA has been one of the best dividend shares on the ASX for reliability this century.
Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI) owns interests in $18 billion of electricity network assets across Australia. They deliver energy to more than 5 million customers in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and transports energy across the National Electricity Market (NEM) to other states.
Medibank Private Limited (ASX: MPL) is Australia's biggest private health insurer. Whilst policyholder numbers aren't going to be as good as previously expected, there are obviously less claims too. It is likely to be able to maintain its dividend during this period.
Foolish takeaway
I believe these are solid dividend share ideas. As a group I think they'll be able to keep paying solid dividends during this period. Apart from Medibank, I think I'd be happy to own all of them in a dividend portfolio for the time being. Though I think a share like Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) could be even better for total returns.
