5 Safest Dividend Stocks in the UK

4. National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG)

UK-based multi-national utilities company National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) accounts for about 4.2% of the total assets of the SPDR S&P UK Dividend Aristocrats ETF. National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) has a dividend yield of over 4% as of May 18.

National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) recently posted its earnings and also increased its dividend.

Its FY 2023 pretax profit jumped to £3.59 billion from £3.44 billion a year earlier. National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) declared a final dividend of 37.60 pence/share, lifting the full-year payment to 55.44 pence from 50.97 pence a year earlier.

As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, 12 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG). The biggest stakeholder of National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) in this period was Citadel Investment Group of Ken Griffin which had a $6 million stake in the company.

Here is what ClearBridge Investments SMID Cap Growth Strategy has to say about National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“National Grid is one of the world’s largest publicly owned utilities, focused on transmission and distribution activities in electricity and gas. National Grid performed strongly during the quarter as the business continued to de-risk following prior regulatory decisions and significant M&A. The company also benefited from falling real rates, a solid set of half-year results and strong Investor Day presentations.”