I understand why so many investors have got excited about SpaceX stock in recent months. There is a brilliant story to the business and it is growing at a rate of knots. Bonus is activities like rocket launches and landings are both spectacular and capture the zeitgeist.

The thing is, as an investor, I do not necessarily care about whether a business I put money into is exciting. I am more focused on whether, over the course of time, that money is likely to shrink or grow.

Old economy stock with its share of problems

Take Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RKT) for example. Over the past five years, its share price has fallen by 14%. So somebody who put £1,000 into the FTSE 100 consumer goods manufacturer five years ago would be nursing a paper loss of £140.

That likely hurts, given that the FTSE 100’s gain of 52% during that time would have turned £1,000 into £1,520.

An investor who had simply invested in a FTSE 100 tracker five years ago would therefore now be £640 better off on paper than if they had put that money into Reckitt shares instead. Ouch!

The maker of Gaviscon and Nurofen brands lacks the headline-grabbing excitement of SpaceX. It has also made some missteps over the years, including a disastrous 2017 acquisition of an infant nutrition business.

Looking at a half-full glass

Such mistakes are reflected in Reckitt’s poor share price performance over the past few years. However, in my view, that has brought Reckitt to a price where it is worth considering.

Indeed, it has moved up 14% since the start of June. That compares favourably to the 8% fall in SpaceX stock since its market listing in June.

Reckitt has something else SpaceX does not (and likely will not have for years, if ever): a dividend. The share price fall has helped pushed the yield up to 4.3%. That is significantly higher than the current FTSE 100 average yield of 3%.

A proven business model with long-term growth potential

How can Reckitt afford to be so generous, spending £2.4bn on dividends for ordinary shareholders in the first six months of this year alone? Because it has something else SpaceX does not: profits. In those six months, Reckitt’s net profit came in at £654m.

You may notice there is a disparity there, as the first half’s dividend spend was unusually high due to a special payout. But in the same period last year, it still spent a not insignificant £830m on dividends for ordinary shareholders.

Reckitt is a serious dividend payer. It can afford to be, thanks to a business model that, over the long run, has demonstrated strong ability to generate strong profits and cash flow – something we are yet to see from SpaceX.

Historical product liability is a risk to Reckitt’s profitability, as is the combination of input ingredient inflation and weak consumer spending. But I like its portfolio of premium brands, global reach and proven cash generation potential.

I think the business with its appealing dividend story is well worth considering.

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Christopher Ruane does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned.