Companies with the best dividend yields on the JSE

The companies with the highest dividend yields on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) over the last year are enX Group, Merafe Resources, and Thungela Resources.

Global markets have been hammered because of the war in Ukraine, high inflation, rising interest rates, and recession fears.

Investors are looking to protect their assets during this time, making money markets, inflation-linked bonds, gold, and defensive stocks popular.

Another popular option is dividend-paying stocks, including real estate investment trusts (REITs).

With rising interest rates from most countries, economists predict that the world is edging toward a recession in 2023.

During most recessions and economic slowdowns, dividend-paying stocks have performed better than the market.

According to research from Morningstar, dividend payers outperformed the market by significant margins during most recessions.

It should be noted that there have also been cases where dividend-paying stocks did not perform as well as expected during economic downturns.

Morningstar advised investors to continue to focus on portfolio quality in anticipation of a recession, with yield as an important secondary factor.

It raises the question of which JSE-listed shares paid the highest dividends over the last year.

enX Group reigned supreme with a dividend of 38%, followed by Merafe Resources at 29% and Thungela Resources at 25%.

These high dividends occurred because of special circumstances.

For example, the global demand for coal means Thungela enjoyed an exceptional year with big cash flow generation and a substantial net cash position.

It allowed the coal miner to declare an interim ordinary dividend of R60 per share.

The table below shows the JSE-listed companies with the highest dividend yields over the last year.