Sun Life Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp. each offers a combination of solid earnings growth, ongoing share repurchases, and impressive dividend yields.
Top pick Yum Brands Inc. gives you sales growth, steady EPS growth, and a solid dividend
Nutrien Ltd. offers exposure to potash and nitrogen prices, a stable retail base and strong profitability.
Become a Successful Investor
Tax shelters in Canada aim to reduce or eliminate your tax liability, they are great ways for Canadian investors to cut their tax bills.
In some ways, stock buyback benefits are better than dividends. In particular, they give you a tax-deferral option that you don’t get with cash dividends.
We have changed our recommendations on these four ETFs from buy to hold: ISHARES MSCI BRAZIL INDEX FUND $23.94 (New York symbol EWZ) is an ETF that’s designed to track the Brazilian stock market. ISHARES CHINA LARGE-CAP ETF $34.67 (New York symbol FXI) is an exchange traded fund that aims to track the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) China 50 Index, which is made up of the 50 largest, most liquid Chinese stocks....
TRANSCANADA CORP. $43.86 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 708.9 million; Market cap: $31.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.transcanada.com) wants to build the Energy East pipeline, which would pump oil from Alberta to Eastern Canadian refineries. The plan involves converting parts of its existing natural gas pipeline to handle oil. The company recently signed deals with three major gas distributors (two in Ontario and one in Quebec) that ensure the project will not cut their gas supplies or increase their costs. As part of this agreement, TransCanada will add new, smaller gas pipelines to replace the portions of the main gas line it will convert to oil. These deals help cut Energy East’s risk. The project faces strong environmental and political opposition, but if regulators approve the new line, it could start up in 2020....
ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES CORP. $9.38 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 239.5 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.3%; www.algonquinpower.com) has used acquisitions to nearly triple in size over the past three years and is planning more purchases. The company’s regulated utility businesses now provide water, electricity and natural gas to over 489,000 customers, up sharply from 120,000 three years ago. Its hydroelectric, thermal energy, solar and wind facilities now generate 1,050 megawatts, up from 460. Emera (Toronto symbol EMA), a recommendation of The Successful Investor, our conservative growth advisory, owns 20.9% of Algonquin....
BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. $35.71 (Toronto symbol BEP.UN; Units outstanding: 265.2 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.1%; www.brookfieldrenewable.com) owns 209 hydroelectric generating stations, 38 wind farms and five natural-gas-fired plants. In all, it has over 7,000 megawatts of generating capacity. Roughly 26% of that capacity is in Canada, with another 51% in the U.S. and 16% in Brazil. In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Brookfield’s cash flow per share fell 28.4%, to $0.53 from $0.74 a year earlier. That’s because below-normal rainfall slowed the company’s hydroelectric production. The units trade at 15.5 times Brookfield’s forecast 2015 cash flow of $2.30 a share. They yield 6.1%....