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
TORSTAR CORP. $5.32 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.9 million; Market cap: $419.7 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; SI Rating: Above Average) reported a first-quarter loss of $21.4 million, or $0.27 a share. However, that was largely caused by a $0.23-a-share charge related to employee layoffs and a change in Torstar’s senior management. The company lost $3 million, or $0.04 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 3.5%, to $339 million from $351.3 million. Torstar’s newspapers and web sites account for 70% of its revenue and 60% of its profits. This division lost $4.8 million in the latest quarter, compared with a profit of $12.4 million a year earlier. The recession and growing competition from the Internet have hurt its advertising revenue. However, profits at the Harlequin book-publishing division rose 19.1%, to $20.6 million from $17.3 million. As well, Torstar’s restructuring should lower its annual expenses by $37.9 million. Torstar is a buy....
TELUS INC. (Toronto symbols T $30 and T.A $29; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 318 million; Market cap: $9.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; SI Rating: Above Average) hopes to improve its sales by bundling its phone and Internet services with satellite TV. Under a new deal with BCE INC. $24 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 780.6 million; Market cap: $18.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; SI Rating: Above Average), Telus will sell BCE’s satellite-TV service in Alberta and British Columbia under the Telus brand. BCE and Telus will share the proceeds from these sales. The deal also lets BCE keep selling satellite service in the same region under the “Bell TV” name. Telus is a buy. The cheaper, non-voting “A” shares are the better choice. BCE is also a buy.
METRO INC. $37 (Toronto symbol MRU.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 111.4 million; Market cap: $4.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; SI Rating: Average) operates roughly 660 grocery stores in Quebec and Ontario. Metro, Super C and Food Basics are some of its major banners. Metro also operates or supplies 270 drugstores, and owns about 23% of Quebec-based convenience-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (Toronto symbol ATD.B) To reduce its reliance on Quebec, which accounted for nearly all of its revenue, Metro bought A&P Canada for $1.7 billion in 2005. The chain consisted of 240 food stores in Ontario, mostly under the A&P and Dominion names.
Sales, earnings surge after purchase
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PENGROWTH ENERGY TRUST $8.64 (Toronto symbol PGF.UN) reported that its cash flow for the first quarter of 2009 fell 57.5%, to $0.37 a unit from $0.87 a year earlier. Higher interest expenses, performance bonuses and royalties were the main reasons for the drop. Still, its $1.20 distribution rate seems secure, and yields 13.9%. Buy. IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $41 (Toronto symbol IMO) will make a final decision on whether to proceed with its 70%-owned Kearl Lake oil-sands project by the end of June. (Imperial’s parent, ExxonMobil Corp., owns the other 30%.) Lower oil prices have reduced labour and material costs. If it goes ahead, Kearl’s reserves should last 40 years. Best Buy. MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. $50 (Toronto symbol TPX.B) continues to profit from MillerCoors, last year’s joint venture that merged its U.S. brewing operations with those of SABMiller. Thanks to savings from combining bottling facilities and distribution networks, Molson Coors’ first-quarter earnings rose 75.2%. Best Buy.
LINAMAR CORP., $8.24, Toronto symbol LNR, jumped 80% this week after it reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Linamar sells transmissions and other parts to several carmakers. This business accounts for about 85% of its revenue. The company also makes self-propelled, scissor-type elevating work platforms under the Skyjack name, plus consumer products, such as lawnmowers and cargo trailers. Linamar lost $12.6 million, or $0.19 a share, in the three months ended March 31, 2009. However, this was mainly caused by an $11.7-million writedown of goodwill. As well, slowing demand from carmakers prompted Linamar to cut its workforce by 12%, or 1,300 employees. This resulted in $4.4 million in severance payments. Without these items, the company lost just $0.01 a share. That’s a lot better than the loss of $0.15 a share that analysts were expecting. In the year-earlier quarter, Linamar earned $29.5 million, or $0.43 a share. Its sales fell 30.9%, to $424.9 million from $614.5 million....
GENNUM CORP., $5.43, Toronto symbol GND, has dropped its friendly takeover bid for rival chipmaker Tundra Semiconductor Corp. (Toronto symbol TUN) after Tundra accepted a higher offer from U.S.-based Integrated Device Technology Inc. Gennum will now receive a $5-million (Canadian) break-up fee from Tundra. To put this figure in context, Gennum lost $800,000 U.S., or $0.02 U.S. a share, in its first fiscal quarter, which ended February 28, 2009. Gennum is still a buy for long-term gains....
PRECISION DRILLING TRUST, $5.70, Toronto symbol PD.UN, announced this week that it has issued $175 million in new long-term notes to the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo). AIMCo is a crown corporation that manages Alberta’s public-sector pension plans and other special funds. Precision is making the move to strengthen its balance sheet. AIMCo also bought 35 million Precision units at $3.00 each, for a total of $105 million. Moreover, Precision will give AIMCo warrants to buy 15 million more units at $3.22 each over the next five years. (As of March 31, 2009, there were 206.2 million Precision units outstanding.) AIMCo now owns roughly 15% of Precision’s units. This will rise to 19% if it exercises all of the warrants....
GENNUM CORP., $4.80, Toronto symbol GND, fell 9% on Friday after it increased its friendly takeover bid for Ottawa-based Tundra Semiconductor Corp. (Toronto symbol TUN). Like Gennum, Tundra makes chips and components for computer networking hardware, like modems and routers. Gennum’s products also let TV broadcasters store, edit and transfer video signals without losing picture quality. Gennum has increased its bid by 30%, and is now offering $112 million in cash and stock for Tundra. Two-thirds of Tundra’s shareholders must vote in favour of the deal at a special meeting on May 8. If they do, Gennum plans to close the purchase by June 1....
TECK COMINCO LTD., $9.94, Toronto symbol TCK.B, has agreed to sell most of the gold from its Andacollo gold/copper mine in Chile to Royal Gold Inc. (Toronto symbol RGL). Teck owns 90% of Andacollo, and the Chilean government owns the remaining 10%. The mine should begin operating by the end of this year, and reach full production in mid-2010. Teck and the Chilean government will continue to own and operate the mine. Royal Gold is just buying the output. Royal Gold will pay a total of $300 million, consisting of $100 million in cash and $200 million in Royal Gold shares (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). Teck’s 90% share is equal to $270 million. To put this amount in context, Teck earned $1.7 billion (Canadian), in 2008. This is equal to $3.76 a share before writedowns and other one-time items....
MDS INC. $6.30 (Toronto symbol MDS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 120.1 million; Market cap: $756.6 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; SI Rating: Average) is a life-sciences company that sells its goods and services in three fields: contract drug research (on behalf of pharmaceutical companies), analytical devices (which scientists use to detect diseases) and medical isotopes for cancer research. In its fiscal first quarter, which ended January 31, 2009, MDS’s earnings fell 89.5%, to $2 million, or $0.02 a share, from $19 million, or $0.16 a share, a year earlier (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). If you disregard a one-time writedown of an investment in a small biotech company and other charges, per-share earnings fell 14.3%, to $0.06 from $0.07. MDS has completed 80% of its restructuring plan, which began in 2008 and included cutting 210 jobs, or 4% of the company’s workforce. The plan saved MDS $14 million in its latest quarter....