You can rely on these small-cap dividends

Article Excerpt

Some dividend-seeking investors avoid small-cap stocks, as they are usually riskier than large-cap dividend payers. However, these two firms are leaders in their niche industries. That makes them less likely to cut their dividends. CALIAN GROUP LTD. $60 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol CGY; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 11.7 million; Market cap: $702.0 million; Dividend yield: 1.9%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.calian.com) provides business services to the healthcare, defence, security, aerospace, engineering, agriculture and technology industries. Calian pays a quarterly dividend of $0.28 a share; the annual rate of $1.12 yields 1.9%. That payment went up five times between 2010 and 2012. It has been steady for investors since then. The company is now buying U.S.-based Hawaii Pacific Teleport (HPT) for up to $62 million. Calian will pay $47 million when the deal closes, with an additional $15 million to be potentially paid out based on HPT achieving certain financial targets. HPT operates an independent teleport in Hawaii and…