These retailers just raised their dividends

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. $152 (Toronto symbol CTC.A; Conservative Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 67.1 million; Market cap: $10.2 billion; Dividend yield: 1.7%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.canadiantire.ca) owns 500 Canadian Tire stores. They sell automotive parts and products, and household and sporting goods. Franchisees run most of those outlets. The company’s other operations include 296 gas stations and 91 PartSource locations; those stores are entirely focused on automobile supplies. In the past few years, the company has acquired other major retail chains: Mark’s sells casual and work clothing through 382 stores; and the Forzani Group sells sporting goods and athletic wear through 433 stores, including Sport Chek and Sports Experts. Starting with the March 2017 payment, Canadian Tire will raise its quarterly dividend by 13.0%, to $0.65 a share from $0.575. The new annual rate of $2.60 yields 1.7%. In the three months ended December 31, 2016, Canadian Tire’s overall sales rose 7.7%, to $3.6 billion from $3.4 billion a year…