Rising cash flow set to spur dividends

Article Excerpt

IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $48 (Toronto symbol IMO; Cyclical-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio; Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $40.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 1.3%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.imperialoil.ca) is Canada’s second-largest integrated oil company, after Suncor Energy. U.S.-based ExxonMobil (New York symbol XOM) owns 69.6% of Imperial. About 90% of the company’s crude production comes from its Alberta oil sands operations; they include its 25% stake in the Syncrude project. Suncor now owns 53.74% of that operation, while Imperial continues to manage it. The company also has conventional oil and natural gas operations in Western Canada, and holds stakes in projects off the coast of Atlantic Canada. Imperial last raised its quarterly dividend by 7.1% with the July 2016 payment. Investors now receive $0.15 a share instead of $0.14. The annual rate of $0.60 yields 1.3%. 125 years of dividends That dividend yield seems low. However the company has paid dividends since 1891, and has increased the annual rate…