Nine key stocks for income hunters to follow in 2014

Vodafone, BP and some less predictable names including a number of UK housebuilders have been tipped to lead the income tables in 2014.

According to the latest UK dividend outlook from Markit, the big five income payers - Vodafone, HSBC, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and GlaxoSmithKline - are expected to once again dominate payouts across the FTSE 350. Of the five companies - which currently account for 31% of ordinary dividend payouts - Markit said it expects HSBC to increase its payout by 13% in total for its full financial year. Meanwhile, BP's results are expected to show an 8.8% increase year on year as the company recovers from the Macondo disaster, with Shell and Glaxo completing the picture with increases of 4.7% and ...