great-west lifeco

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC. $52 (Toronto symbol SLF; Conservative- Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 612.0 million; Market cap: $31.8 billion; Dividend yield: 3.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.sunlife.ca) originally began operating as The Sun Insurance Company of Montreal in 1865....

PRECISION DRILLING CORP. $3.37 (Toronto symbol PD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resource sector; Shares outstanding: 293.2 million; Market cap: $985.1 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend suspended in March 2016; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.precisiondrilling....

POWER CORP. $32.83 (Toronto symbol POW; Shares outstanding: 414.4 million; Market cap: $15.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.powercorporation. com) is a holding company with a diversified list of businesses. It holds its financial assets through its 65.6%-owned Power Financial.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2017, Power Corp.’s earnings per share rose 24.6%, to $0.81 from $0.65 a year earlier.

Power Financial’s assets include 67.6% interest in insurer Great-West Lifeco and 61.5% of mutual-fund provider IGM Financial.

Through its 50% stake in Parjointco, Power Financial also holds 55.5% of Swiss-listed Pargesa Holdings SA....

POWER CORP. $33 (Toronto symbol POW; Conservative- Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 415.3 million; Market cap: $13.7 billion; Dividend yield: 3.9%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www. powercorporation.com) is a Montreal-based holding company that owns its financial assets through a 65.7% stake in Power Financial....

Sun Life is one of Canada’s oldest life insurance companies. At the same time, it continues to aggressively expand in Asia. That region’s middle class is saving and investing more as its rapid growth continues. The resulting boost to Sun Life’s earnings should let it keep raising its dividend....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $36 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 989.9 million; Market cap: $35.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO $34.40 (Toronto symbol GWO; shares outstanding: 990.0 million; Market cap: $34.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest insurance company, after Manulife Financial (Toronto symbol MFC)....

POWER CORP. $30.69 (Toronto symbol POW; Shares o/s: 414.4 million; Market cap: $14.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.powercorporation. com) is a holding company with a diversified list of businesses. It holds its financial assets through its 65.6%-owned Power Financial.

In the quarter ended June 30, 2017, Power Corp.’s earnings per share rose 11.5%, to $0.87 from $0.78 a year earlier.

Power Financial’s assets include 67.6% of insurer Great-West Lifeco and 61.5% of mutualfund provider IGM Financial.

Through its 50% stake in Parjointco, Power Financial also holds 55.5% of Swiss-listed Pargesa Holdings SA....

These two businesses of Power Financial are leaders in their respective industries. That cuts the risk for each and lets them both pay high, sustainable dividends. Still, for new buying, we prefer IGM over Great-West.

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC....

FORTIS INC. $46 (www.fortisinc.com) continues to benefit from its October 2016 acquisition of ITC Holdings, which owns 25,100 kilometres of high-voltage power lines in the U.S. Midwest. Fortis paid $7.0 billion U.S. in cash and shares; it later sold 19.9% of ITC to Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund for $1.2 billion U.S....