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.
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First, the Saskatchewan government decided to change the timing of certain tax breaks for new potash mines and expansion projects. The province is also reviewing how it taxes potash producers.
Potash Corp. expects the new rules to cut its pre-tax earnings by $75 million to $100 million (Canadian) in 2015. To put that in context, it earned $1.5 billion, or $1.82 a share, in 2014.
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The company gets the remaining 25% of its sales and 40% of its earnings by making nitrogen-based fertilizers from natural gas. It also operates potash and phosphate fertilizer mines. In the past few years, Agrium has built up its retail business through acquisitions. In December 2010, it paid $1.2 billion for AWB Ltd., which operated 220 stores in Australia In October 2013, the company added 210 stores in Western Canada and Australia in a $485-million deal with Viterra Inc.
These acquisitions, along with rising fertilizer prices, pushed up Agrium’s sales by 49.2%, from $10.7 billion in 2010 to $16.0 billion in 2012. Declining fertilizer prices cut its 2013 sales to $15.7 billion, but they improved to $16.0 billion in 2014.
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In the past few years, RioCan took advantage of lower property values and interest rates to expand its portfolio. As a result, its revenue jumped 39.8%, from $882 million in 2010 to $1.2 billion in 2014.
Due to gains and losses on property sales, earnings fell from $6.04 a unit (or a total of $1.5 billion) in 2010 to $3.25 (or $873 million) in 2011. Earnings rebounded to $4.57 a unit (or $1.3 billion) in 2012 but declined to $2.10 a unit (or $663 million) in 2014.
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Sales at its powertrain and driveline division (83% of the total) rose 14.7%, thanks to acquisitions and higher new car sales, which increased demand for Linamar’s transmissions and other auto parts. Sales at the industrial products division (17%) gained 23.3%, mainly due to strong demand for the company’s Skyjack selfpropelled, scissor-type elevating work platforms.
Earnings jumped 48.2% during the year, to a record $4.95 a share from $3.34. Linamar’s earnings could rise to $5.54 a share in 2015, and the stock trades at a moderate 13.5 times that forecast. The $0.40 dividend yields 0.5%.
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The company has also extended its partnership with Samsung Electronics. Under the deal, Samsung will integrate BlackBerry’s mobile security software into its smartphones and tablets.
BlackBerry is a hold.
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