3 shares to buy today for income

I think there are some great income opportunities available on the market right now. With that in mind, here are three shares to buy today for income that I’m currently considering adding to my portfolio. 

Shares to buy today

One of the highest dividend yields in the FTSE 350 at present belongs to Diversified Gas & Oil (LSE: DGOC).

As its name suggests, this company is an oil and gas producer. At the time of writing, analysts believe the group will return $0.14 (10p) per share to investors as dividends for the 2020 financial year. They’ve pencilled in additional distributions totalling $0.17 (12p) for 2021.

Based on the current share price of this suggests the stock could offer a dividend yield of 9.4% in the current year. 

However, this distribution is far from guaranteed. Commodity prices can be highly volatile. For example, the oil price lost around two-thirds of its value in the first half of 2020. This suggests it could be challenging to rely on Diversified Gas & Oil’s dividend remaining at this level for the long term.

Still, I think this is one of the best shares to buy today based on its near-term dividend prospects. That’s why I would buy the stock for my portfolio today. 

Income investment

Another high-yielding FTSE 350 stock is Investec (LSE: INVP). Based on current analysts projections, the shares could yield 8.3% in 2022. 

As well as this income potential, the stock also looks cheap. It is trading at a forward multiple to earnings of 5.8. In comparison, the financial services sector average is around 13. 

These are only projections at this stage. The company may perform better or worse than expected over the next few years. A prolonged economic downturn could cause income to fall significantly, limiting the amount of money the business has available to return to investors. That’s something I will be keeping an eye on. 

Nevertheless, I think this is one of the best shares to buy today, considering its valuation and income potential. Investec may face headwinds in the near term, but considering its valuation, I think the risk of investing is worth the potential reward if everything goes right. 

Vodafone’s dividend 

Vodafone (LSE: VOD) is one of the FTSE 100’s top income stocks. The company has a reputation for paying out most of its income to investors year after year. Based on current dividend projections, the stock will return 6% to investors in the year ahead.

The pandemic has shown just how essential telecommunication networks are in times of uncertainty. It has also accelerated the uptake of technologies such as fibre broadband and 5G. 

Working from home may become the new normal as we advance, which suggests the demand for these products will remain elevated. That should be good news for companies like Vodafone.

That said, the group will face challenges. It is becoming more and more expensive for the company to compete with sector peers, and it has a lot of debt. Both of these factors may hurt profitability, which could limit its ability to meet dividend forecasts. 

I will keep these concerns in mind, but in the meantime, I think Vodafone is one of the best shares to buy today for my portfolio based on its dividend credentials.