dividend

A dividend is a cash payout that serves as a way for companies to share the profits they’ve accumulated through their operations. These payouts are drawn from earnings and cash flow paid to the shareholders of the company. Commonly these dividends are paid quarterly, although they may also be paid annually or even monthly as well. A dividend can produce as much as a quarter of your total return over long periods. Some good companies reinvest profits instead of paying a dividend. But fraudulent and failing companies hardly ever pay a dividend. So if you only buy stocks that pay dividends, you’ll automatically stay out of almost all the market’s worst stocks. For a true measure of stability, focus on companies that have maintained or raised their dividends during recessions and stock market downturns. These firms leave themselves enough room to handle periods of earnings volatility. By continually rewarding investors, and retaining enough cash to finance their businesses, they provide an attractive mix of safety, income and growth. Dividends are an important contributor to your long-term gains, and dividend-paying stocks tend to expose you to less risk than non-dividend-payers. That’s why the majority of your stocks should be dividend-payers at all times. As you get older and closer to retirement, you should raise the proportion of dividend-paying stocks in your portfolio, to cut risk and improve the stability of your investment results. To maximize your investment returns with the least risk, follow TSI Network and use our three-part Successful Investor strategy:

  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; Utilities);
  3. Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.

Discover how to put an extra strength in your portfolio with our specific advice on how to identify high-quality dividend stocks. It’s all in our newly updated report, Dividend Paying Stocks: How High Dividend Stocks Can Supercharge Your Income Investing. And it’s yours FREE!

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BCE INC., $45.62, Toronto symbol BCE, is still a buy.

The company is Canada’s largest traditional telephone service provider. It has 1.98 million residential customers in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces. It also has 4.50 million high-speed Internet users and 2.08 million fibre-optic TV subscribers....
STATE STREET CORP., $84.52, New York symbol STT, remains a buy.

The company sells accounting and administrative services to operators of mutual funds and pension plans.

State Street also offers banking services, so it’s subject to the Fed’s stress test, which it passed.

Thanks to its strong capital position, the company will raise your quarterly dividend in the third quarter of 2024....
CGI INC., $145.45, Toronto symbol GIB.A, is your #1 Aggressive Buy for 2024.

The company is Canada’s largest provider of computer outsourcing services. It helps its clients automate certain routine functions like accounting and buying supplies....
INTERNATIONAL PAPER CO. $46 is a hold. The company (New York symbol IP, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 347.3 million; Market cap: $16.0 billion; Dividend yield: 4.1%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.internationalpaper.com) is a global provider of fibre-based packaging and pulp and paper products....

In May 2016, cardboard maker WestRock spun off its Ingevity chemical business to create two pure-play firms. Shareholders received one Ingevity share for every six WestRock shares they held.


WestRock recently merged with Irish packaging firm Smurfit Kappa....
Spinoffs are a great way for companies to boost shareholder value. Here’s our take on two spinoffs coming up in the second half of 2024.


BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. $36 is a buy. The company (New York symbol BAX; Manufacturing sector; Shares o/s: 507.8 million; Market cap: $18.3 billion; Dividend yield: 3.2%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.baxter.com) makes a variety of medical devices, including intravenous pumps and kidney-dialysis equipment.


Under a new strategy to narrow its focus to specialized equipment for hospitals, including intensive-care-unit beds, operating tables, patient monitoring equipment and electronic diagnostic systems, Baxter is shedding some of its other businesses.


As part of that strategy, Baxter plans to spin off later this year its Renal Care and Acute Therapies unit as a separate firm called Vantive....
ETSY INC. $65 is a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol ETSY; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 116.9 million; Market cap: $7.6 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.etsy.com) operates an online marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers of unique and creative consumer goods.


Etsy’s shares are down about 20% since the start of 2024, mainly due to concerns that cost-conscious consumers are spending less on discretionary goods.


Activist firm Elliott Management, which owns about 13% of the stock, feels Etsy can expand its customer base with a new loyalty program....
The shares of these three firms (including Etsy, see box) are down sharply in the past few years. That has attracted the attention of activist investors who see a way to turn these stocks around. While their plans have merit, it could take years for them to recover.


WOLFSPEED INC....

A key reason why spinoffs tend to work out well is because investors prefer “pure-play” firms that they can more easily evaluate and compare to other stocks.


Iconic food maker Maple Leaf Foods now plans to set up its less-profitable hog processing business as a separate, publicly traded firm....
CONAGRA BRANDS INC. $30 is a buy. The company (New York symbol CAG; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 478.2 million; Market cap: $14.3 billion; Dividend yield: 4.7%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.conagra.com) spun off its potato-processing operations as Lamb Weston Holdings Inc....