Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Dividend Yield Testing

What I like about dividend yield testing is that you are using current amounts, not the latest quarterly amounts and not any estimates. It uses the latest stock price and what the stock is currently paying in dividends. The current yield is compared against the historical median dividend yield. It works best on dividend growth stocks.

The dividend increases for a company generally reflect how the management of the company feel about the future and the future earnings of a company. Dividend increases show that the management is positive about the future. Dividend cuts and suspensions, of course, show the opposite. It shows that the management is uncertain about the future or see problems in the short term.

This testing does not work well on old income trust companies that changed to corporations. This is because income trusts payout higher yields than corporations. It does not work well also on companies that have cut their dividends, especially if the dividend cut was big and recent.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about WSP Global Inc. (TSX-WSP, OTC-WSPOF) ... learn more. Tomorrow, I will write about Thomson Reuters Corp. (TSX-TRI, NYSE-TRI) ... learn more on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 around 5 pm.

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. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk. The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Montreal Gazette Portfolio

This portfolio was lunched some 18 years ago with Quebec companies and $100,000. It was worth over $800,000 in August 2016. At that time portfolio is up some 703% or has gained 12.3% per year. I was disappointed to see that the portfolio has been discontinued in November 30 2016. However, I wondered how the stocks would have fared going forward today.

Since November 30, 2016, two stocks have been taken private. They are Canam Group Inc. (TSX-CAM) and Lumenpulse Inc (TSX-LMP). Both stocks produced a profit for the portfolio when taken private.

Without the above two stocks, the portfolio would have been worth $721,543.35 at November 30, 2016 and today be worth $689,537.02 which a drop of 1.89% per year. If we include the above stocks in November 30, 2016 portfolio, it would have been worth $811,605.75 at that time. If we add in the sale prices for these stocks as current cash, the portfolio would be worth $802,652.72 today for a loss of just 0.46% per year.

The above does not take into consideration the dividends paid on these stocks. As far as I can see, the yield on the portfolio on 6 April 2018 was 2.57% per year. If this yield continued, then the portfolio would currently be in positive territory. That is the current total return would be 0.68% with 2.57% from dividends and loss of $1.89%.

Below are the stocks still left in this portfolio.

Company Ticker
Couche-Tard (ATD.B) ATD.B
Laurentian Bank of Canada LB
Canadian National Railway Co CNR
Quebecor Inc. QBR.B
Mediagrif Interactive Technologies Inc. MDF
Uni Select Inc. UNS
CGI Group Inc. GIB.A
Stella-Jones Inc. SJ
Fiera Capital Corp FSZ
Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. IAG
Heroux-Devtek Inc. HRX
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. SNC
Boralex Inc. BLX


Here is the link to the August 8, 2017 article in the gazette which talks about the valuation for July 2016. Here is the link to the December 12, 2016 article which talks about the November 30, 2016 valuation. Here is the link to the December 12, 2016 article which calls the end to this portfolio.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about SNC-Lavalin Group Inc (TSX-SNC, OTC-SNCAF) ... learn more. Next, I will write about Fortis Inc. (TSX-FTS, OTC-FRTSF) ... learn more on Friday, April 26, 2019 around 5 pm.

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. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk. The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

My Politics

I am for democracy, but it must be tempered by the rule of law and very strong individual rights. Otherwise you can get and will get democracies that have the majority suppressing the minority. It is allowing majority rule in a democracy that leads to suppressing a minority. This is how you end up with democracy that has slavery or suppression of minorities.

I do like the first pass the post system. You tend to get better representatives in parliament. Problems do arise when the people vote strictly on party or ethnic or religious lines. I do not like socialism or any statism. Socialist call for the suppression or the conformity of everyone.

The other thing is that I have never met a socialist that has a good view of their fellow man. This is probably why they feel that certain people or groups of people must be suppressed. They seem to think that everyone is just out for themselves. I do not have a Pollyanna view of my fellowman. I know that people tend to more concerned about themselves than others. I know that there are people that mean others harm, but by and large people I have met mean no harm to others.

On a social basis, I am an old fashion liberal and leaning towards Liberian. That is, I believe that everyone should be able to live their lives in anyway that they see fit as long as they do not harm anyone else. Financially, I am a conservative. I believe that governments should pay down their debt in good times to have the ability to help the economy in bad times.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Barclays PLC ADR (LSE-BARC, NYSE-BCS) ... learn more. Next, I will write about SNC-Lavalin Group Inc (TSX-SNC, OTC-SNCAF) ... learn more on Wednesday April 24, 2019 around 5 pm.

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. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk. The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Metro and Jean Coutu

Buy Sell Adviser of MPL Communications talks about how Metro will profit from their acquisition of Jean Coutu. I am interested in this because I own Metro and I have followed Jean Coutu for a number of years.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Pembina Pipelines Corp (TSX-PPL, NYSE-PBA) ... learn more. Next, I will write about be Canadian Natural Resources (TSX-CNQ, NYSE-CNQ) ... learn more on Friday, April 19, 2019 around 5 pm.

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. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk. The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Energy and Pollution

We will get off oil and gas at some point, but it may take longer than you might think. There will be a tipping point when the use of oil and gas will be over. However, no one knows when this will happen. If you read history, you will see that changes in the use of wood and animal power to coal to oil and gas did happen, but these ways of providing us with power lasted a long time.

Renewable energy might be the way of the future, but I personally I thought and still think that we should have gone from coal and oil to gas to immediately low our of pollution level. But make no mistake, we need to get to renewable energy and we will at some point.

The other pollution I am very concerned about is the pollution of our water, especially the ocean. One of the quickest and easiest things we can do is stop dropping garbage in the streets. When I grew up in Toronto there was no street trash bins and no garbage in the street. Now trash cans are all over the place but so is street garbage. It is hard to describe how stupid this is.

Electric cars will clean up the air in cities, but oil is used more in shipping and in airplanes. Another problem is batteries. They involve very toxic products. They are bad for the environment when making and disassembly (or in the disposing of). We need to invent better batteries.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Barrick Gold Corp (TSX-ABX, NYSE-ABX) ... learn more. Next, I will write about Pembina Pipelines Corp (TSX-PPL, NYSE-PBA) ... learn more on Wednesday, April 17, 2019 around 5 pm.

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. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk. The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Investing and Stress

Basically, we put ourselves under stress depending on how we view things and situations. The economy moves in cycles. It always has and it probably always will. There are good times and there are bad times, but neither is going to last. They may go on for longer than you can ever image, but they do end.

If you invest, you are going to make investments mistakes. You are going to invest in a company that gets into trouble. You think a company is a wonderful investment, but it does not turn out to be true. This will happen. If you hold companies for the long term, the company is going to have good times and bad times. It will have problems at some point.

However, what really counts is how you do in the long term. In the long term, I have done well. Mostly, my decisions have panned out. I have basically done better than the TSX plus income. I have certainly had my share of problem companies. I have companies that cut or suspend their dividends. I have had companies that get into trouble and their share price drops like a stone. This life and it is going to happen.

I do not focus on stock prices, but on the ability of my companies to pay their divided and increase them. I am going to be wrong on some, but not the majority. I focus on how well I am doing over the long term, like the last 5 or 10 years, rather than this year or last year.

A definition of a bear market is when everyone gets worried about something at the same time. The problem could be recent or could have occurred months ago, sometimes even years. This is probably also why the small investor also panics and sells and loses. However, you might be less inclined to panic, if you ignore the gyrations of the market and focus on the ability of your companies to pay their dividends.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Supremex Inc (TSX-SXP, OTC-SUMXF) ... learn more. Next, I will write about Leon's Furniture Ltd (TSX-LNF, OTC-LEFUF) ... learn more on Friday, April 11, 2019 around 5 pm.

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. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk. The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Mutual Fund Investors

Brett Arends on Market Watch says mutual funds underperform the market because of mutual fund investors..

I have been saying this for years. Mutual funds managers cannot beat the market because mutual fund investors second guess them all the time. They pile money into a mutual fund when the stock market is rising and force mutual fund managers to buy high. They also pile out of the mutual funds when there is crash and cash the mutual fund managers to sell low.

This is the same reason retail (small) investors lose on the market. They buy high and sell low, which is the opposite you should do. But they tend to buy when the market is rising and then get frightened when there is a market crash and sell. That is a losing strategy.

So, if you want to go the Mutual Fund route you probably want a Mutual Fund that is picky about when they will take your money and also do not allow you to cash in on a whim. Or, you can get an index mutual fund.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Russel Metals Inc. (TSX-RUS, OTC-RUSMF) ... learn more. Next, I will write about Supremex Inc (TSX-SXP, OTC-SUMXF) ... learn more on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 around 5 pm.

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. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk. The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Something to Buy April 2019

There is always something to buy in the stock market. On Tuesday, I put out a list of the stocks that I covered and showed what stock might be a good deal based on dividend yield. Now I am trying to categorize what sorts of stocks may be a good deal based on dividend yield.

The advantages to using dividend yield to judge how cheap or expensive a stock is, is that you are not using estimates or old data (like last reported quarter's data). You are using today's stock price and today's dividend yield.

For other testing, like using P/E Ratios and Price/Graham Price Ratios, you use EPS estimates or from the last reported financial quarter. When using P/S Ratios, P/CF Ratios or P/BV Ratios you are using data from the last reported financial quarter.

This system does not work well for old Income Trust companies. These companies had quite high Dividend Yields which will probably never be seen again. So, I started a column called VT (for Valid Test) and this applies to checking stock price using dividend yield. If it is not a valid test I use N to show this. For these stocks, you might be better comparing the current dividend yield to the 5 year median dividend yield.

However, no system is perfect. But if you are interested in buying a stock a list of stocks cheap or reasonable using dividend yield data might be a good place to start.

Categorizing stocks is not as simple as it might seem. Every site you go to has categorized stocks a bit differently. I try to keep this as simple as possible. See Something to Buy April 2019 Spreadsheet to see what stocks are 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). As in other spreadsheets, you can highlight a line or a number of lines for better viewing.

In the following notes I am only going to list stocks showing as cheap using the historical high dividend yields (P/Hi) and historical median dividend yields (P/Med).

I now follow 22 stocks in the Consumer Discretionary category. Four of these stocks (18%) are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield and they are Dorel Industries (TSX-DII.B, OTC-DIIBF), High Liner Foods (TSX-HLF, OTC-HLNFF), Leon's Furniture (TSX-LNF, OTC-LEFUF), and Stingray Digital Group Inc (TSX-RAY.A). There is no change from last month.

Ten (or 45%) of Consumer Discretionary are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Canadian Tire Corp (TSX-CTC.A, OTC-CDNAF), Dorel Industries (TSX-DII.B, OTC-DIIBF), Goeasy Ltd (TSX-GSY, OTC-EHMEF), High Liner Foods (TSX-HLF, OTC-HLNFF), Leon's Furniture (TSX-LNF, OTC-LEFUF), Magna International Inc. (TSX-MG, NYSE-MGA), Molson Coors Canada (TSX-TPX.B, NYSE-TAP), Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp (TSX-PZA, OTC-PZRIF), Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. (TSX-RET.A, OTC-RTMAF), and Stingray Digital Group Inc (TSX-RAY.A). There is no change from last month.

I follow 11 Consumer Staples stocks. No companies are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. There is no change from last month.

Five stocks (or 45%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. These are AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. (TSX-AGT, OTC-AGXXF), Empire Company Ltd (TSX-EMP.A, OTC-EMLAF), Lassonde Industries (TSX- LAS.A, OTC-LSDAF), Loblaw Companies (TSX-L, OTC-LBLCF), Metro Inc. (TSX-MRU, OTC-MTRAF). Lassonde Industries (TSX- LAS.A, OTC-LSDAF has been added to this list. Empire Company Ltd (TSX-EMP.A, OTC-EMLAF) have been added back to this list.

I only follow three Health Care stocks. One stock (or 33%) of these stocks is showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. That stock is HLS Therapeutics Inc (TSX-HLS, OTC-HLTRF). There is no change from last month.

Three or 100% are cheap by the historical median dividend yield. The stocks are Johnson and Johnson (NYSE-JNJ), Medtronic Inc. (NYSE-MDT) and HLS Therapeutics Inc (TSX-HLS, OTC-HLTRF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 10 Energy stocks. Four stock or 40% are showing as cheap by the historical high dividend yield. They are Canadian Natural Resources (TSX-CNQ, NYSE-CNQ), Ensign Energy Services (TSX-ESI, OTC-ESVIF), Mullen Group (TSX-MTL, OTC-MLLGF) and Suncor Energy (TSX-SU, NYSE-SU). Suncor Energy (TSX-SU, NYSE-SU) has been added back to this this list. Canadian Natural Resources (TSX-CNQ, NYSE-CNQ) has been added back to this list.

There are five stocks (or 50%) showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Canadian Natural Resources (TSX-CNQ, NYSE-CNQ), Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX-CVE, NYSE-CVE), Ensign Energy Services (TSX-ESI, OTC-ESVIF), Mullen Group (TSX-MTL, OTC-MLLGF) and Suncor Energy (TSX-SU, NYSE-SU). There is no change from last month.

I follow 8 Bank stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. There is no change from last month.

Six stocks (or 75%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX-BNS, NYSE-BNS), Barclays PLC (LSE-BARC, NYSE-BCS), CIBC (TSX-CM, NYSE-CM), National Bank of Canada (TSX-NA, OTC-NTIOF), Royal Bank (TSX-RY, NYSE-RY) and Toronto Dominion Bank (TSX-TD, NYSE-TD). There is no change from last month.

I follow 15 Financial Service stocks. No stock is showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. It is). Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc. (TSX-GS, OTC-GLUSF) has been deleted from this list.

Nine (or 60%) stocks are showing cheap by the historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Accord Financial Corp (TSX-ACD, OTC-ACCFF), AGF Management Ltd (TSX-AGF.B, OTC-AGFMF), Alaris Royalty Corp (TSX-AD, OTC-ALARF), CI Financial (TSX-CIX, OTC-CIFAF), Element Fleet Management Corp (TSX-EFN, OTC-ELEEF), Equitable Group Inc. (TSX-EQB, OTC-EQGPF), Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc. (TSX-GS, OTC-GLUSF), IGM Financial (TSX-IGM, OTC-IGIFF), and Power Corp (TSX-POW, OTC-PWCDF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 6 Insurance stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. There is no change from last month.

Six stocks (or 100%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX-GWO, OTC-GWLIF), Industrial Alliance Ins. and Fin. (TSX-IAG, OTC-IDLLF), Intact Financial Corp. (TSX-IFC, OTC-IFCZF), Manulife Financial Corp (TSX-MFC, NYSE-MFC), Power Financial Corp (TSX-PWF, OTC-POFNF) and Sun Life Financial (TSX-SLF, NYSE-SLF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 32 Industrial stocks. Because I have so many and Industrial is not very descriptive, I have divided my Industrial stocks into 4 separate categories under Industrial. They are Construction, Industrial, Manufacturing and (Business) Services.

I have 6 Construction stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. There is no change from last month.

One stock or 17% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. That stock is Stantec Inc. (TSX-STN, NYSE-STN). There is no change from last month.

I have 3 stocks I have left with the sub-index of Industrial . None are cheap by the historically high dividend yield. There is no change from last month.

Two stocks or 67% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Finning International Inc. (TSX-FTT, OTC-FINGF), and Russel Metals (TSX-RUS, OTC-RUSMF). There is no change from last month.

I have 7 Manufacturing stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. This has not changed from last month.

Three stocks or 43% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Exco Technologies Ltd. (TSX-XTC, OTC-EXCOF), Hammond Power Solutions Inc. (TSX-HPS.A, OTC-HMDPF), and Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (TSX-ITP, OTC-ITPOF). PFB Corp (TSX-PFB, OTC-PFBOF) has been removed from this list.

I follow 16 Services stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. This has not changed from last month.

Five stocks or 31% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. These stocks are Canadian National Railway (TSX-CNR, NYSE-CNI), Pason Systems Inc. (TSX-PSI, OTC-PSYTF), Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc. (TSX-RBA, NYSE-RBA), Transcontinental Inc. (TSX-TCL.A, OTC-TCLAF) and Wajax Corp (TSX-WJX, OTC-WJXFF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 8 Material stocks. None are showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. This has not changed from last month.

Four stock or 50% are showing as cheap by historical median dividend yield. The stocks are Barrick Gold Corp (TSX-ABX, NYSE-ABX), Chemtrade Logistics Inc. Fund (TSX-CHE.UN, OTC-CGIFF), Hardwoods Distribution Inc. (TSX-HDI, OTC-HDIUF), and Stella-Jones (TSX-SJ, OTC-STLJF). There is no change from last month

I follow 10 Real Estate stocks. No stock is showing as cheap by historically high dividend yield. Melcor Developments Inc. (TSX-MRD, OTC-MODVF) has been removed from this list. Two stocks (or 20%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Granite Real Estate (TSX-GRT.UN, NYSE-GRP.U) and Melcor Developments Inc. (TSX-MRD, OTC-MODVF). There is no change from last month.

I follow 4 of the Telecom Service stocks. No stocks are showing as cheap by historically high dividend yield. This has not changed from last month.

Four stocks (or 100%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. These stocks are BCE (TSX-BCE, NYSE-BCE), Quarterhaill Inc (TSX-QTRH, NASDAQ-QTRH), Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX-SJR.B, NYSE-SJR) and Telus Corp (TSX-T, NYSE-TU). This has not changed from last month.

I follow 8 Info Tech stocks. One is showing as cheap by historical high dividend yield and that is Maxar Technologies Ltd (TSX-MAXR-NYSE-MAXR). There is no change from last month.

Three stocks (or 38%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are Computer Modelling Group Ltd. (TSX-CMG, OTC-CMDXF), Evertz Technologies (TSX-ET, OTC-EVTZF), and Sylogist Ltd (TSXV-SYZ, OTC-SYZLF). Maxar Technologies Ltd (TSX-MAXR-NYSE-MAXR) has been removed from this list.

I follow 6 of the Infrastructure type utility companies. None are showing as cheap by historical high dividend yield. This has not changed from last month.

Three stocks (or 50%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. They are), Enbridge Inc. (TSX-ENB, NYSE-ENB), Keyera Corp (TSX-KEY, OTC-KEYUF) and TransCanada Corp (TSX-TRP, NYSE-TRP). There is no change from last month.

I follow 11 of the Power type utility companies. Only ATCO Ltd (TSX-ACO.X, OTC-ACLLF) is showing as cheap by the historically high dividend yield. This has not changed from last month.

Four stocks (or 36%) are showing cheap by historical median dividend yield. Those stocks are ATCO Ltd (TSX-ACO.X, OTC-ACLLF), Canadian Utilities Ltd (TSX-CU, OTC-CDUAF), Fortis Inc. (TSX-FTS, OTC-FRTSF) and Just Energy Group Inc. (TSX-JE, NYSE-JE). Emera Inc. (TSX-EMA, OTC-EMRAF) has been removed from this list.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Alaris Royalty Corp (TSX-AD, OTC-ALARF) ... learn more. Next, I will write about Toromont Industries Ltd. (TSX-TIH, OTC-TMTNF) ... learn more on Friday, April 5, 2019 around 5 pm.

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. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk . The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter. I am on Instagram. Or you can just Google #walktoronto spbrunner8166 to see my pictures.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Dividend Stocks April 2019

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 2019. On this list,
  • I have 10 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
  • I have 56 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical average dividend yield
  • I have 75 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical median dividend yield and
  • 86 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the 5 year average dividend yield.
When I did my list last list in March 2019,
  • I have 12 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical high dividend yield,
  • I have 55 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical average dividend yield
  • I have 77 stocks with a dividend yield higher than the historical median dividend yield and
  • 87 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 $169.48. This month dividends would be $170.32 which is a reset figure after the changes noted below. Of the stock that I follow 11 stocks has raised their dividends since last month

Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX-ATD.B, OTC-ANCUF)
Badger Daylighting Ltd (TSX-BAD, OTC-BADFF)
Canadian Natural Resources (TSX-CNQ, NYSE-CNQ)
Dollarama Inc (TSX-DOL, OTC-DLMAF)
Enghouse Systems Limited (TSX-ENGH, OTC-EGHSF)

Equitable Group Inc (TSX-EQB, OTC-EQGPF)
North West Company (TSX-NWC, OTC-NWTUF)
Parkland Fuel Corp (TSX-PKI, OTC-PKIUF)
Power Financial Corp (TSX-PWF, OTC-POFNF)
Premium Brands Holdings Corp (TSX-PBH, OTC-PRBZF)

Stella-Jones (TSX-SJ, OTC-STLJF)

Of the stocks I follow, two stock has cut their dividends. Those stocks are:

Dorel Industries (TSX-DII.B, OTC-DIIBF)
Maxar Technologies Ltd (TSX-MAXR, NYSE-MAXR) and to US$.

Of the stocks I follow, no stock has suspended or terminated their dividends. There is a tension between needing money for investing in growth and paying dividends.

Most of my stocks started out as Dividend Payers. Currently 13 stocks are not paying any dividends and this would be some 8.39% of the stocks that I follow. Four of these stocks never had dividends, so 5.81% of the stocks I follow have suspended their dividends. The three stocks that never paid dividends are Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSX-BLD, NASDAQ-BLDP), Blackberry Ltd. (TSX-BB, NASDAQ-BBRY) and Trigon Metals Inc. (TSX-TM, 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. I also started a column called VT (for Valid Test) and this applies to checking stock price using dividend yield. If it is not a valid test I use N to show this.

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.

On my other blog I wrote yesterday about Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX-SLF, NYSE-SLF) ... learn more. Next, I will write about Alaris Royalty Corp (TSX-AD, OTC-ALARF) ... learn more on Wednesday, April 03, 2019 around 5 pm.

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 website for stocks followed and investment notes. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk. The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter or StockTwits. I am on Instagram with #walktoronto.