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The 10 Best-Performing UK Dividend Stocks of 2024

Barclays and NatWest are among the year’s high-yielding winners.

Bella Albrecht 3 January, 2025 | 10:28AM
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Dividend-paying stocks that combine healthy balance sheets with hefty yields can provide investors with steady incomes, cushion against market downturns, and grow investments at a healthy clip.

In 2024, the top-performing dividend-payers included capital markets company CMC Markets UK CMCX, airline International Airlines Group IAG, and the bank NatWest NWG.

To find the year’s 10 best-performing income-focused stocks, we screened the Morningstar UK Index—which measures the performance of the UK’s broad regional markets, targeting the top 97% of stocks by market capitalization—for companies with a forward dividend yield of at least 1.5%, excluding real estate investment trusts.

The Best-Performing UK Dividend Stocks of 2024

1 - CMC Markets UK CMCX
2 - International Airlines Group IAG
3 - NatWest Group NWG
4 - DS Smith SMDS
5 - Morgan Sindall Group MGNS
6 - Barclays BARC
7 - Cairn Homes CRN
8 - Plus500 PLUS
9 - Keller Group KLR
10 - Beazley Group BEZ

Best-Performing Dividend Stocks in the UK

Source: Morningstar Direct.

How Have Dividend Stocks Performed?

The Morningstar UK Dividend Yield Focus Index, which tracks the performance of high-quality, dividend-paying stocks listed in the UK, fell 2.4% over the past month, but has risen 9.8% over the past year.

1-Year Performance for Dividend Stocks

Source: Morningstar Direct.

The overall UK stock market, as measured by the Morningstar UK Index, was roughly flat on the month, but has risen 9.9% on the year.

Yields and Metrics for 2024’s Best-Performing Dividend Stocks

CMC Markets UK CMCX

Capital markets company CMC Markets UK rose 146.1% in 2024 and gained 1.5% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at £2.48 per share, its stock has a forward dividend yield of 4.19%. CMC Markets UK pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of 8p per share. The stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

International Airlines Group IAG

Airline IAG rose 96.4% in 2024 and gained 28.8% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. At £3.02 per share, its stock has a forward dividend yield of 1.68% and a trailing 12-month dividend of 3p per share. The stock, which has no economic moat, is moderately overvalued, trading 35% above its fair value estimate of £2.24 per share. It has a Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.

NatWest Group NWG

The bank NatWest gained 91.2% in 2024 and rose 24.0% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. The stock’s £4.02 price gives it a forward dividend yield of 4.35%. NatWest pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of 18p per share. With a fair value estimate of £3.60 per share and no economic moat, the stock is moderately overvalued, trading at a 12% premium. It has a Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.

DS Smith SMDS

Packaging and containers company DS Smith rose 82.3% in 2024 and gained 16.0% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at £5.42 per share, DS Smith stock has a forward dividend yield of 3.36% and a trailing 12-month dividend of 18p per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.

Morgan Sindall Group MGNS

Engineering and construction company Morgan Sindall gained 81.5% in 2024 and rose 18.7% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at £39 per share, its forward dividend yield is 3.06%. Morgan Sindall pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of £1.14 per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.

Barclays BARC

The bank Barclays gained 79.7% in 2024 and rose 15.8% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. At £2.68 per share, Barclays stock has a forward dividend yield of 3.06% and a trailing 12-month dividend of 8p per share. The stock, which has no economic moat, is trading near its fair value estimate of £2.30 per share. It has a Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Cairn Homes CRN

Residential construction company Cairn Homes rose 72.3% in 2024 and gained 30.2% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at £1.94 per share, Cairn Homes stock has a forward dividend yield of 3.3% and a trailing 12-month dividend of 5p per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.

Plus500 PLUS

Capital markets company Plus500 rose 71.9% in 2024 and gained 30.8% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at £27.08 per share, Plus500 stock has a forward dividend yield of 2.46% and pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of 63p per share. The stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.

Keller Group KLR

Engineering and construction company Keller gained 70.2% in 2024 and rose 16.9% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. The stock’s £14.50 price gives it a forward dividend yield of 3.3%. Keller pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of 45p per share. The stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Beazley Group BEZ

Specialty insurance firm Beazley rose 59.1% in 2024 and gained 22.5% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. At £8.16 per share, Beazley has a forward dividend yield of 1.74% and a trailing 12-month dividend of 13p per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.

What Is the Morningstar UK Index?

The Morningstar UK Index measures the performance of the UK’s broad regional markets, targeting the top 97% of stocks by market capitalisation. The index does not incorporate environmental, social, or governance criteria.

What Is the Morningstar UK Dividend Yield Focus Index?

The Morningstar UK Dividend Yield Focus Index captures the performance of a portfolio of high-quality, dividend-paying securities.

It’s a subset of the Morningstar UK Index which represents 97% of the equity market capitalization that includes only stocks that pay dividends. The stocks are screened for economic moat and financial strength compared to others in their sector. Real estate investment trusts are excluded.

The 25 highest-yielding stocks are included in the index, weighted by the dollar value of the dividends. See the full rulebook here.

The Best Dividend Stock Leaders: More Ideas to Consider

Investors who would like to uncover more top-performing or cheap dividend stocks to research further can do the following:

• Review the full list of Dividend stocks included in the Morningstar UK Dividend Yield Focus index. Those dividend stocks with Morningstar Ratings of 4 or 5 stars are undervalued, according to our metrics.
• Read our monthly analysis of the latest dividend moves among the top FTSE 100 dividend payers.
• Use our Morningstar Screener tool to find the best dividend stocks according to your specific criteria. You can search for stocks based on their dividend yields, valuation measures such as price/earnings, and more.
• Use Morningstar Portfolio Manager to build a watchlist of the best dividend stocks and create a view that allows you to easily follow the valuations, ratings, and dividend yields of the stocks in your list.
• When it comes to buying stocks, it’s more than just dividends. Read here how valuations and competitive advantages—known as economic moats—matter when it comes to a stock’s potential for outperformance.
• Read Morningstar’s Guide to Stock Investing to learn how our approach to investing can inform your stock-picking process.

Companies that are not formally covered by a Morningstar analyst are statistically matched to analyst-rated companies, allowing our models to calculate a quantitative star rating.

This article was compiled by Bella Albrecht, edited by Lauren Solberg, and reviewed by Sunniva Kolostyak.


This article was generated with the help of automation and reviewed by Morningstar editors. Learn more about Morningstar’s use of automation.

The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar's editorial policies.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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Bella Albrecht  is associate data journalist at Morningstar

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