Dividend Growth Investors Should Look To Canada

By Bayesian Investing: To dividend growth investors, the only thing better than dividend growth is lots of dividend growth. So I am looking for companies that have the intent and ability to grow dividends aggressively. That means cash rich companies, with low payout ratios and large earnings growth. The type of companies that have -- and can continue -- to grow dividends by high double digit rates each year.

The growth-and-income model adopted by many of the country’s former energy trusts has been a tough sell on equity markets over the past two years due to persistent concerns about their ability to meet the needs of investors on an ongoing basis. Despite this general lack of faith, the hybrid approach continues to gain traction within the Canadian energy sector, particularly among junior producers anxious to attract yield-hungry investors.

Dividends4Life submits: We have all heard it… Stodgy, for old people, yawn, boring! These have all been used to describe dividend growth investing. As a dividend growth investor, I sometimes think our strategy is the most misunderstood. It seems everyone understands a traders mentality as evidenced by the numerous comments on capital appreciation – “Why would you buy that stock?

Dan Pritch submits: There are two main schools of thought in dividend investing and for whatever reason, investors tend to be polarized into one camp or the other. On one hand, investors tend to be drawn to juicy dividend yields of 8% or more given that this matches the long-term return on equities over long periods of time but provides for current yield matching that, plus the prospect of capital appreciation.

George Fisher submits: Algonquin Power and Utilities (AQUNF.PK) is a small-cap Canadian electric generation company focused on renewable, clean power and water utilities. The company manages a billion dollars in utility assets in the US and Canada. AQN in the process of transforming itself from a Canadian income unit trust to a growth oriented cross-border utility.

Canada’s currency is the heart of a renaissance underway in business capital spending. Very recently, my Gluskin Sheff partners and I were invited to co-host an event at the Consul General’s residence in New York last week to raise awareness of Canada’s relative advantages for U.S. investors and entrepreneurs. It was a memorable evening.

Thousands of vending machines still can’t digest those plastic $20 bank notes the government released two months ago, with machine owners blaming the Bank of Canada for their problems. As many as half a million machines that scan bank notes needed reprogramming to accept the radically redesigned $20 bills, the most popular denomination in Canada. Some 145 million polymer $20 notes have been put into circulation since Nov. 7, one of a series of new plastic notes intended to thwart counterfeiters and last much longer than their paper-cotton predecessors.

By Insider Monkey: Investing in American Depository Receipts (ADRs) is one of the best ways to get foreign markets exposure. The transaction costs of purchasing ADRs are usually much lower than those of buying through local exchanges as there are no costs of converting U.S. dollars to the stocks’ local currency. We believe that by investing in ADRs, investors will achieve a more diversified portfolio, protecting themselves from dollar inflation and benefit from the higher growth rates in foreign markets.