Cannabis spurs Molson dividend hike

Article Excerpt

MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. (Toronto symbols TPX.A $71 and TPX.B $71; Conservative Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 216.5 million; Market cap: $15.4 billion; Dividend yield: 4.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.molsoncoors.com) recently formed an alliance with Canadian cannabis producer HEXO Corp. (Toronto symbol HEXO). Molson now owns 57.5% of that joint venture (called Truss) to develop cannabis-infused non-alcoholic beverages. Truss plans to launch several of those beverages, including waters and beer-like drinks, on December 16, 2019. The joint venture feels it has sufficient cannabis supply meet the expected demand. That consistent and dependable supply will also help Truss quickly launch new beverages as customer preference emerge over the next year or so. Molson also plans to raise its quarterly dividend by a 39.0%. Starting with the September 2019 payment, investors will then receive $0.57 U.S. a share, up from $0.41 U.S. The new annual rate of $2.28 U.S. yields a high 4.2% for class A shares, and 4.2%…