Here are key updates for dividend investors

Article Excerpt

LEON’S FURNITURE LTD. $19 is a buy for aggressive investors. The retailer (Toronto symbol LNF; High-Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 68.0 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Dividend yield: 3.4%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Average; www.leons.ca) operates 304 stores that sell furniture and home appliances, mainly under the Leon’s, The Brick, and Appliance Canada banners. To conserve cash during the pandemic, Leon’s cut your quarterly dividend by 25.0% in July 2020, to $0.12 a share from $0.16. However, as its stores re-opened, the company raised the quarterly dividend to $0.14 a share in October 2020. It then increased that quarterly payment by 14.3% to $0.16 in January 2021. The current rate of $0.64 yields a solid 3.4%. In addition to that solid dividend, the company now plans to buy back roughly 5% of its common shares by September 14, 2024. Share buybacks reduce the number of shares outstanding. That boosts earnings per share since profit is divided among fewer shares. In turn, the improved per-share ratio…