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
CGI GROUP INC. $24 (Toronto symbol GIB.A;Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing &Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 307.7 million;Market cap: $7.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; No dividends paid; TSI Network Rating: Extra Risk;www.cgi.com) is Canada’s largest provider of computer outsourcing services....
RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27(www.riocan.com) is raising its monthly distribution by 2.2% with the January 2013 payment, to $0.1175 a unit from $0.115. The new annual rate of $1.41 yields 5.2%. This is the first increase since 2008. Buy.

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC....
In next week’s Successful Investor Hotline, we’ll reveal our #1 stock pick for 2013. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to profit. ENCANA CORP., $20.16, Toronto symbol ECA, is selling its 30% stake in a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Kitimat, B.C., to Chevron Corp. (New York symbol CVX). The deal includes Encana’s stake in related pipelines and gas properties in B.C. However, Encana will still ship its gas through Kitimat when the terminal is completed. Chevron is also buying a further 30% of this project from EOG Resources Canada Inc. Following these deals, Chevron will sell 10% to Apache Corp. (New York symbol APA). As a result, Chevron and Apache will each own 50%. (Chevron and Apache are recommendations of Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that focuses on U.S. stocks.)...
PLEASE NOTE: This is our last Hotline for 2012. Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, January 4, 2013. RESEARCH IN MOTION LTD., $10.86, Toronto symbol RIM, reported a lower-than-expected loss in its latest quarter. Its revenue matched the consensus estimate. However, due to its falling share of the smartphone market, RIM has had to cut the fees it charges wireless carriers to use its proprietary messaging network. RIM earns higher profits from this service than selling hardware, so lower fees will hurt its profitability. That’s why the stock fell 22% today....
The Successful Investor Hotline. Friday, December 14, 2012 Dear client,...
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $97.70, Toronto symbol CP, rose 5% this week after the company announced a major restructuring plan aimed at improving its efficiency. CP’s strategy includes cutting 25% of its workforce, making its trains longer and faster, and closing some terminals. CP didn’t say how much these moves would cost. However, the restructuring should help cut its operating ratio from 74.1% to around 65% in 2016. (Operating ratio is calculated by dividing a company’s regular operating costs by its revenue. The lower the ratio, the better.) In addition, CP has suspended its plan to build new rail lines that would have served coal mines in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming. The company received an exclusive option to build these lines as part of a 2007 acquisition. However, power plants are switching to natural gas, which has hurt demand for coal. As a result, CP will write down this option and related assets by $180 million. That’s equal to 80% of the $224 million, or $1.30 a share, that it earned in the third quarter of 2012....
We’ve long admired Canadian Utilities for its decades of steady earnings and dividend growth. In September 2009, we also began recommending ATCO, its parent company. Due to its holding company discount, ATCO gives investors a cheaper way to invest in Canadian Utilities. However, it pays a lower dividend, so income seekers may prefer Canadian Utilities. Either way, both stocks offer low-risk growth plus income. CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $68 and CU.X [class B voting] $68; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 128.1 million; Market cap: $8.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta. It also operates 18 power plants in Canada, Australia and the U.K. ATCO Ltd. (see page 2) owns 52.8% of Canadian Utilities....
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $97 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 173.0 million; Market cap: $16.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cpr.ca) plans to cut 25% of its workforce as part of a major restructuring plan aimed at improving its efficiency. CP is also increasing the length and speed of its trains. The plan should cut CP’s operating ratio from 74.1% in the third quarter of 2012 to 65% in 2016. (Operating ratio is calculated by dividing regular operating costs by revenue—the lower, the better.) In addition, CP has suspended its plan to build new rail lines that would have served coal mines in Montana and Wyoming. That’s because power plants are switching to cheaper natural gas, which has hurt demand for coal. As a result, CP will take a $180-million charge. That’s equal to 80% of the $224 million, or $1.30 a share, that it earned in the third quarter. CP Rail was our #1 buy for 2012. It’s still a buy....
When you select finance-sector investments, we recommend that you begin with Canada’s big-five banks due to their long record of profits and rising dividends. We then recommend diversifying your holdings with non-bank finance stocks like these four. Conservative investors should stick with Great-West and IGM. More aggressive investors should also consider Home Capital and Dundee. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $23 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 949.9 million; Market cap: $21.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend Yield: 5.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s largest insurance company, with $532.3 billion of assets under administration. It also sells mutual funds and financial services, such as retirement planning and wealth management. Power Financial (Toronto symbol PFC) owns 68.2% of Great-West....
TELUS CORP. (Toronto symbols T $65 and T.A $65; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 325.8 million; Market cap: $21.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) recently received shareholder approval for its plan to convert its 151 million non-voting class A shares into regular common shares (one vote per share) on a one-for-one basis. The B.C. Supreme Court must still approve this move, probably in early 2013. Telus also reported that non-Canadian investors now own about 15% of its common shares, down from 33% six months ago. It’s likely that U.S.-based hedge fund Mason Capital, which opposes the conversion plan, has cut its 18.7% stake. This drop also makes it easier for Telus to attract more non-Canadian investors without violating Ottawa’s foreign ownership limits on phone companies. Even though they receive identical dividends and have similar liquidity, the non-voting shares are usually cheaper than the common shares....