Dividend Stocks
Dividends can produce as much as a third of your total return over long periods, and you can even retire on dividends.
There are 4 key stock dividend dates that are involved with dividend payments:
1- The Declaration Date is several weeks in advance of a dividend payment—it’s when company’s board of directors sets the amount and timing of the proposed payment.
2- The Payable Date is the date set by the board on which the dividend will actually be paid out to shareholders.
3- The Record Date is for shareholders who hold the stock before the payable date and receive the dividend payment. That date is set any number of weeks before the payable date.
4-The Ex-Dividend Date is two business days before the record date and it’s when the shares begin to trade without their dividend. If you buy stocks one day or more before their ex-dividend date, you will still get the dividend. That’s when a stock is said to trade cum-dividend. If you buy on the ex-dividend date or later, you won’t get the dividend. The ex-dividend date is in place to allow pending stock trades to settle.
We think very highly of stocks that have been paying dividends for five or more years, at TSI Network. Many of these stocks fit in well with our three-part Successful Investor philosophy:
1- Invest mainly in well-established companies;
2- Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities);
3- Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.
[text_ad use_category="243"]
Read More
Close
THE WESTAIM CORP. $0.37 (Toronto symbol WED; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 94.1 million; Market cap: $34.8 million; SI Rating: Speculative) has two main subsidiaries: wholly owned iFire Technologies Corp. is developing a new, cheaper way to make flat-panel displays; 74.8%-owned Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Toronto symbol NCS) makes medical products that prevent infection in burns and wounds. Based on current prices, Nucryst now accounts for $0.36 per Westaim share. Westaim was the technology development subsidiary of fertilizer producer Viridian Inc., a one-time recommendation of ours. In 1996, Viridian handed out its Westaim shares to its own shareholders as a special dividend. In the second quarter of 2007, Westaim’s losses fell to $0.08 a share from $0.13 a year earlier, thanks to a gain on sale of real estate. Revenue fell 4.3%, to $6.7 million from $7.0 million....
ARBOR MEMORIAL SERVICES INC. $30 (Toronto symbol ABO.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 10.6 million; Market cap: $318.0 million; SI Rating: Average) owns 41 cemeteries, 27 crematoria, three reception centres located on cemetery premises and 93 funeral homes in eight provinces. Arbor gets most of its revenue from advance sales of cemetery plots and memorial services. It holds this cash in trust until it performs a service. Meanwhile, it earns interest income from this cash. Interest income typically accounts for just under 10% of Arbor’s total revenue. In its third fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2007, revenue rose 8.1%, to $57.7 million from $53.4 million a year earlier. Most of the increase came from higher demand for funeral services, as well as value-added services such as receptions and catering. Sales of new cemetery plots rose 7.3%. Earnings in the quarter crept up to $0.40 a share from $0.39....
TORSTAR CORP. $20 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.7 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is a leading Canadian media company. Its main asset is The Toronto Star, the largest daily newspaper in Canada. It also publishes over 160 daily and weekly newspapers in Southern Ontario. Newspapers account for about 70% of Torstar’s total revenue. Torstar’s other main business is wholly owned Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., the world’s largest publisher of romance fiction. Harlequin sells its books in 110 countries. The company’s revenues grew slowly, from $1.42 billion in 2002 to $1.56 billion in 2005, but slipped to $1.53 billion in 2006. Profits fell from $1.62 a share (total $125.3 million) in 2002 to $1.41 a share ($112.7 million) in 2004. Earnings rebounded to $1.52 a share ($118.8 million) in 2005, but restructuring charges cut profit to $1.01 a share ($79.1 million) in 2006....
CAE INC. $13 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 252.3 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; SI Rating: Average) makes commercial and military flight simulators. It also operates pilot training facilities in 19 countries. In its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2007, earnings excluding unusual items rose 25% to $0.15 a share from $0.12 a year earlier. Revenue grew 6.2%, to $358.3 million from $337.3 million. CAE spends about 9% of its revenue on research, so it’s more profitable than it appears. The $0.04 dividend yields 0.3%. The stock fell to below $3 after 9/11, but rose to $15.25 in July 2007. It now trades at 20.3 times the $0.64 a share it should earn in fiscal 2008. As well, rising fuel costs could slow demand for CAE’s products and services....
BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $6.29 and BBD.B $6.26; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $10.6 billion; SI Rating: Extra risk) is the world’s third-largest maker of commercial aircraft, after Boeing and Airbus. It specializes in small business jets, and regional jets that carry around 100 passengers. The company also makes passenger railcars. In its second fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2007, Bombardier earned $0.05 a share, up 66.7% from $0.03 a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. funds). The most recent quarterly figure excludes a one-time writedown of its investment in a group that’s refurbishing the London, UK subway system. Strong demand for business jets and railcars, particularly in China and Russia, expanded sales by 14.3%, to $4.0 billion from $3.5 billion. Bombardier should earn $0.21 U.S. a share in 2007, and the stock trades at 28.8 times that estimate. That’s reasonable in light of its improving prospects....
BELL ALIANT REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS INCOME FUND $32 (Toronto symbol BA.UN; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Units outstanding: 130.8 million; Market cap: $4.2 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is the main provider of telephone services in Atlantic Canada. It also serves rural parts of Ontario and Quebec. BCE Inc. controls 43.4% of Bell Aliant. As part of the deal that created Bell Aliant, the fund transferred the bulk of its wireless business to BCE. Without these operations, the fund now aims to spur growth by expanding the availability and capacity of its high-speed Internet service. Just 20% of Bell Aliant’s customers use its high-speed Internet service, so there’s plenty of room to grow....
MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $49 (Toronto symbol MBT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 64.6 million; Market cap; $3.2 billion; SI Rating: Average) is Manitoba’s main provider of local, long distance and wireless telephone service, with over 90% of the market. Other services include Internet access and a digital TV service. It also owns Allstream, a national provider of communication services to businesses. Allstream accounts for roughly 55% of Manitoba Tel’s revenue, but just 40% of its profit. That’s because the business telecom market is more competitive than Manitoba Tel’s traditional operations. But Allstream’s plan to focus on small businesses that its bigger competitors tend to ignore should help it improve its roughly 10% market share....
TELUS CORP. (Toronto symbols T $56 and T.A $54; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 331.7 million; Market cap: $18.5 billion; SI Rating: Above average) provides local and long distance telephone service in British Columbia, Alberta and parts of Quebec, and wireless service across Canada. A big part of the company’s success in the past few years is its wireless operations, which now account for 40% of its total revenue. Telus prefers to focus on long-term customers, which cuts the need for expensive promotions such as free phones. That has helped keep its wireless profit margins high compared to its main competitors (BCE and Rogers). Telus also tends to hang on to its customers longer....
TIM HORTONS INC. $35 (Toronto symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 188.8 million; Market cap: $6.6 billion; SI Rating: Extra risk) operates 2,733 coffee-and-donut shops in Canada, and 345 in the United States. Franchisees operate 97.5% of its stores. Much of the company’s growth comes from a steady stream of new products, and innovative promotions. Healthier menu items such as fresh sandwiches, soups and salads have also helped it attract customers who avoid donuts. In the three months ended July 1, 2007, earnings fell 11.9% to $67.2 million from $76.3 million a year earlier. Write-offs related to the company’s initial public offering gave it an unusually low tax rate of 19.8% in the year-earlier quarter. The tax rate in the latest quarter grew to a more normal 33.8%. Per-share earnings fell 7.7%, to $0.36 from $0.39, due to fewer shares outstanding....
MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $15 (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 128.6 million; Market cap: $1.9 billion; SI Rating: Average) makes fresh and frozen meat products, mainly under the Maple Leaf and Schneiders brands. It also owns 88.0% of Canada Bread Company (see box at right). The company is currently restructuring its operations to focus on value-added products, which generate higher profits than fresh meat. Consequently, it recently closed two pork processing plants and will close a third later this year. In the second quarter of 2007, Maple Leaf’s revenue fell 2.9%, to $1.32 billion from $1.36 billion a year earlier. However, earnings from continuing operations and excluding restructuring costs grew 8.3%, to $0.13 a share (total $52.7 million) from $0.12 a share ($46.8 million)....