Dividend Stocks April 2016

First I want to point out that not all of the stocks I follow are great investments. I follow a diverse selection of stocks. There are some that I would never invest in personally. I follow a number of resource stocks even though I personally have little invested in this area. I follow what I find interesting and with resource stocks, I think it is important for Canadians to know what is happening in the resource area. On the other hand I do follow of good number of great dividend growth stocks.

The theory is that you should use the dividend yield to see if a dividend stock is selling at a stock price that is relatively cheap. A stock price is considered cheap if it is selling at a dividend yield higher than the historical high yield or higher than the historical average yield or historical median yield. See my spreadsheet at dividend growth stocks that I just updated for April 2016.

On this list,

• I have 8 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
• I have 41 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical average dividend yield
• I have 65 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical median dividend yield and
• 63 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the 5 year average dividend yield.

When I did my list last month,

• I have 9 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
• I have 45 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical average dividend yield
• I have 68 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical median dividend yield and
• 65 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the 5 year average dividend yield.

When I did my list in January 2014,

• I had 9 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
• I had 45 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical average dividend yield and
• 39 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the 5 year average dividend yield.

If you had one share of each stock, total dividends last month would be $146.33. This month dividends would be $143.36. Of the stock that I follow 8 stocks has raised their dividends since last month. Dividends raises are denoted in green. Those stocks are shown below.

Enghouse Systems Limited (TSX-ESL, OTC-EGHSF)
Granite REIT (TSX-GRT.UN, NYSE-GRP.U)
Parkland Fuel Corp. (TSX-PKI, OTC-PKIUF)
Pembina Pipelines Corp. (TSX-PPL, NYSE-PBA)
Power Financial Corp. (TSX-PWF, OTC-POFNF)

SNC-Lavalin (TSX-SNC, OTC-SNCAF)
Stella-Jones (TSX-SJ, OTC-STLJF)
Transcontinental Inc. (TSX-TCL.A, OTC-TCLAF)

Of the stocks that I follow 2 companies have decreased their dividends. I have denoted these dividends in red. The stocks are shown below.

Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSX-CPG, NYSE-CPG)
Melcor Developments Inc. (TSX-MRD, OTC-MODVF)

Of the stocks that I follow 2 companies have suspended their dividends. I have denoted these dividends in red. The stocks are shown below.

HNZ Group Inc. (TSX-HNZ.A, OTC-CDHPF)
Husky Energy (TSX-HSE, OTC-HUSKF)

There was a name change. Calian Technologies Ltd. (TSX-CTY OTC-CLNFF) is now (TSX-CGY, OTC-CLNFF). Canadian Oil Sands (TSX-COS, OTC-COSWF) was bought out by Suncor Energy (TSX-SU, NYSE-SU). I have just added Empire Company Ltd. (TSX-EMP.A, OTC-EMLAF) to the list of stocks I follow and I will do a report on it when the April 2016 annual report is published.

Most of my stocks started out as Dividend Payers. Currently 12 stocks are not paying any dividends and this would be some 8.1% of the stocks that I follow. Three of these stocks never had dividends, so 6% of the stocks I follow have suspended their dividends. The three stocks that never paid dividends are Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSX-BLD, NASDAQ-BLDP0, Blackberry Ltd. (TSX-BB, NASDAQ-BBRY) and Kombat Copper Inc. (TSX-KBT, OTC-PNTZF)

I am showing whether a stock is relatively cheap based on historical high dividend yields (P/Hi), historical average dividend yields (P/Ave), historical median dividend yields (P/Med) or on 5 year median dividend yields (P/5Yr). See these fields on the right side of the file. You can highlight a particular stock using your cursor to highlight the appropriate line.

There are always some stocks to buy because they are priced reasonably. There are always stocks to currently avoid because they are overpriced. Looking at dividend growth stocks that are selling at stock prices that give them a dividend yield above the historical median dividend yield are probably the best bet.

The stocks that are selling at prices that give them a dividend yield above the historical high yield could be good stocks to buy. However, these stocks may be selling so cheap because of current troubles, especially financial troubles and should be treated with caution. Do not forget that I have all the stocks I follow on this spreadsheet and some are much better investments than others.

You should always investigate a stock before you buy. Sometimes different stocks in certain sectors are just out of favour or the stock market is just in one of its declines. However, a stock may be relatively cheap because it has problems. That is why you should always investigate a stock before buying.

Looking at stock this way is equivalent to a stock filter. A main problem I know of is for the old income trusts. These companies have generally lowered their dividend yields forever and they will probably never get back to the old dividend yield highs they made as an income trust company. For these stocks, you might be better comparing the current dividend yield to the 5 year median dividend yield.

Also, on some stocks I have a lot more information years in my spreadsheets than for other stocks. So, finding a stock on the list as "cheap" is only the first step in finding a stock to buy. This is the same with any other sort of stock filters that you can use.

The last thing to remember is that I have entering figures into a spreadsheet. I could put them in incorrectly, I can transpose figures and I can misread figures. This is another great reason why you should check a stock out before investing. As this is just a filter, it works better on some stocks than on others.

See my entry on my methodology in establishing the historical dividend yield highs and lows for the stocks that I cover. I have an entry on my introduction to Dividend Growth. You might want to look at my original entry on Dividend Growth Stocks. I have also written about why I like Dividend Growth companies.

I recently wrote about Russel Metals Inc. (TSX-RUS, OTC-RUSMF)... learn more. The next stock I will write about will be DH Corp (TSX-DH, OTC-DHIFF)... learn more on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 around 5 pm.

Also, on my book blog I have put a review of the book In Ishmael's House by Martin Gilbert learn more...

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my site for an index to these blog entries and for stocks followed. Follow me on Twitter.