Dividend Stocks
Dividends can produce as much as a third of your total return over long periods, and you can even retire on dividends.
There are 4 key stock dividend dates that are involved with dividend payments:
1- The Declaration Date is several weeks in advance of a dividend payment—it’s when company’s board of directors sets the amount and timing of the proposed payment.
2- The Payable Date is the date set by the board on which the dividend will actually be paid out to shareholders.
3- The Record Date is for shareholders who hold the stock before the payable date and receive the dividend payment. That date is set any number of weeks before the payable date.
4-The Ex-Dividend Date is two business days before the record date and it’s when the shares begin to trade without their dividend. If you buy stocks one day or more before their ex-dividend date, you will still get the dividend. That’s when a stock is said to trade cum-dividend. If you buy on the ex-dividend date or later, you won’t get the dividend. The ex-dividend date is in place to allow pending stock trades to settle.
We think very highly of stocks that have been paying dividends for five or more years, at TSI Network. Many of these stocks fit in well with our three-part Successful Investor philosophy:
1- Invest mainly in well-established companies;
2- Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities);
3- Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.
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Dividend Stocks Library Archive
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD., $202.17, Toronto symbol CP, reported lower freight volumes in the latest quarter, mainly due to falling prices for oil and other commodities, but the railway still reported better-than-expected results. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, CP earned $427 million, up 6.8% from $400 million a year earlier. Per-share profits jumped 16.5%, to $2.69 from $2.31, on fewer shares outstanding. These results exclude unusual items, such as gains on asset sales. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $2.67. Revenue gained 2.3%, to $1.71 billion from $1.67 billion, also beating the consensus forecast of $1.69 billion....
LINAMAR CORP., $70.26, Toronto symbol LNR, has offered to buy 100% of Montupet SA, a French maker of aluminum car parts with plants in Europe, North America and Asia. The company will pay $1.16 billion for Montupet’s shares and will assume $97.5 million of its debt. The deal’s total value—$1.25 billion—is equal to 27% of Linamar’s $4.6-billion market cap (the value of all outstanding shares). Linamar will borrow the cash it needs for this purchase, which will increase its long-term debt from $581.3 million (as of June 30, 2015) to around $1.8 billion. That’s a high, but still manageable, 39% of Linamar’s market cap. The new operations will immediately add to the company’s cash flow and earnings, helping it pay down the extra debt....
In 2012, CGI acquired U.K.-based outsourcing firm Logica.This was the biggest purchase in its 39-year history and is themain reason why the stock is up nearly 100% since then.The company plans to keep making acquisitions, which willhelp it reach its new goal of doubling its annual revenue in thenext five to seven years. Most of these will be smaller purchases,which cuts the risk of using acquisitions to expand. CGI has already identified 85 potential targets, mainly firmsthat would strengthen its position in its existing markets. It’s alsointerested in building on its expertise in fast-growing fields likecloud computing and computer security. CGI GROUP INC. $48 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; AggressiveGrowth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Sharesoutstanding: 313.4 million; Market cap: $15.0 billion; Priceto-sales ratio: 1.5; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: ExtraRisk; www.cgi.com) is Canada’s largest computer-outsourcingprovider, helping its clients automate routine functions likeaccounting and buying supplies. That improves their efficiencyand lets them focus on their main businesses....
SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $37 (Torontosymbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio,Resources sector; Shares outstanding:1.5 billion; Market cap: $55.5billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividendyield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating:Average; www.suncor.com) is takingadvantage of low oil prices with its allstocktakeover offer for Canadian OilSands (Toronto symbol COS). Canadian Oil Sands’ main asset isits 36.74% stake in the massiveSyncrude oil sands development nearFort McMurray, Alberta. It alsooperates the project. Suncor alreadyowns 12.0% of Syncrude, so thispurchase would give it effectivecontrol, with a 48.74% stake. Equipment failures and other problemshave hurt Syncrude’s productionin the past few years, and Suncorfeels its expertise running similarprojects will make Syncrude moreefficient and profitable. In the secondquarter of 2015, Suncor’s cash costsin the oil sands were $28.15 a barrel,compared to $54.45 at Syncrude....
These two utilities are using different strategies to boost their earnings: Enbridge is investing heavily in new pipelines, while Manitoba Telecom is cutting costs at its struggling Allstream unit. We feel both firms will ultimately succeed, and their future growth will give them more cash for dividends. Right now, however, we think their high multiples to earnings make them vulnerable to a setback if their profit growth stalls. ENBRIDGE INC. $56 (Toronto symbol ENB; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 860.1 million; Market cap: $48.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.enbridge.com) gets 85% of its revenue from pipelines that pump oil and natural gas from Western Canada to Eastern Canada and the U.S. The remaining 15% mainly comes from distributing gas to 2.1 million consumers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State....
PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $1.41 (Toronto symbol PGF; Aggressive Growth and Income Portfolios, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 540.7 million; Market cap: $762.4 million; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.pengrowth.com) continues to sell less important properties and focus on more promising operations like its Lindbergh oil sands project in Alberta. The company has now agreed to sell its Bodo project in eastern Alberta for $95 million. Including this deal, it has now sold $260 million worth of properties in 2015 and expects to reach its full-year goal of $600 million in asset sales. Pengrowth will use the proceeds to pay down its long-term debt, which stood at $1.9 billion on June 30, 2015. That’s a high 2.5 times its currently depressed market cap....
TRANSCANADA CORP. $45 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 709.0 million; Market cap: $31.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) is buying the Ironwood gas-fired power plant in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The facility is close to the Marcellus shale region, which gives it access to large supplies of cheap natural gas. The company will pay $654 million U.S. when it completes the purchase in early 2016. The plant will add $90 million U.S. to $110 million U.S. to TransCanada’s annual gross profits; in 2014, its gross profits totalled $5.5 billion (Canadian). TransCanada is a buy.
Transcontinental and Torstar (see next article) recently announced big acquisitions. Expanding in this way adds risk, as insiders at the companies being sold know a lot more about them than the buyers. However, these deals will leave these two companies less reliant on their flyer-printing and newspaper businesses, where revenue is shrinking. TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $20 (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.0 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) recently purchased Brooklyn, New York-based Ultra Flex Packaging, a privately held maker of flexible plastic packages for candy, coffee and other foods. Transcontinental paid $80 million U.S. for Ultra Flex, which will add $72 million U.S. to its annual revenue and $12 million to its gross profits. This purchase looks like a good fit with U.S.-based Capri Packaging, which makes plastic bags and pouches for cheese and other dairy products. Transcontinental paid $146.1 million for Capri in May 2014....
TORSTAR CORP. $4.12 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 80.3 million; Market cap: $330.8 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 12.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.torstar.com) has purchased 56% of VerticalScope, a private firm that operates over 600 online forums and a variety of websites, including AutoGuide.com, Motorcycle.com, ATV.com and PetGuide.com. This purchase should help Torstar offset slowing advertising revenue at its newspapers as advertisers shift their spending to the Internet. The company paid $200 million, but VerticalScope plans to pay a distribution to its shareholders later this year. That would cut Torstar’s purchase price to $178 million. Meantime, Torstar recently launched a digital version of The Toronto Star, its flagship newspaper, for tablet computers. In addition to newspaper content, this free app, called Star Touch, gives users quick access to related information like photos, maps and videos....
Canadian Utilities and its parent company, ATCO (see box), are both down 10% since the start of 2015. That’s mainly because lower oil prices have prompted companies that produce and explore for crude to put off new projects, hurting electricity demand in Alberta. However, both firms are in the midst of expansions that will spur their earnings as oil prices recover. That will give them more room to increase their dividends. CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $37 and CU.X [class B voting] $37; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 265.2 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadian utilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also operates 18 power plants in Canada, Australia and the U.K. ATCO Ltd. owns 53.2% of the company....