Niche markets fuel this retailer’s dividend

Article Excerpt

NORTH WEST COMPANY $30 (Toronto symbol NWC; High-Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 46.9 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.northwest.ca) sells food, and everyday products and services at 245 stores. Those outlets are mainly in northern communities across Canada and Alaska. The company also operates in remote regions of Hawaii, the wider South Pacific, and the Caribbean. In 2002, North West signed a 30-year deal with Ottawa-based Giant Tiger for the exclusive right to open and operate Giant Tiger general merchandise stores in Western Canada. North West opened three new Giant Tiger stores in 2018 and now operates a total of 44 of those stores. The company gets 75% of its sales from food, with Canada contributing 62% of revenue. Three decades of dependable dividends North West has paid regular dividends for the past 30 years. It last raised that quarterly payment in April 2019. Investors now receive $0.33 a share, up 3.1% from $0.32. The new annual…