Tuesday, February 24, 2009
2009 Mergent's Dividend Achievers list
I last wrote about the Mergent's Dividend Achievers list in January 2008. However, since then Mergent's has changed their hyperlink to the list. As such, I have included the proper link in this post and on the Blog Roll below.
Every year Mergents compiles a list of companies, royalty income trusts and REITs from Canada that have increased their dividends for five consecutive years or more. The 2009 Canadian version now has 71 constituents, up from the 46 I reported last year. This increase was not an easy feat given the troubling economic times we now find ourselves in.
Stalwarts like The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS), The Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO), Fortis Incorporated (TSX:FTS) and TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) are consistently on the list. However, several income trust funds that also have dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) find themselves on the list including Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:REF.UN), Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:CUF.UN) and Keyera Facilities Income Fund (TSX:KEY.UN)
Mergent's have also published another index called the Canadian High Yield Dividend Growth 30 Portfolio. To be included, companies must trade on a major stock exchange like the TSX, have five or more years of equal or increasing regular annual dividend payments, a minimum average daily cash volume of $3,000,000 USD and a current dividend yield of 1%. The 30 companies with the largest market cap as of the last trading day in December are chosen for inclusion.
This index could be useful for an investor who wants to invest their money in large cap firms only. The indexes are by no means identical as companies like George Weston Limited (TSX:WN) and Loblaws Ltd (TSX:L) exist in the latter list and not the former.
Finally, while most companies in the indexes have DRPs, not all do. This is why it is a good idea to compare the index's list of constituents to the List of Canadian DRIPs and SPPs on this site to see which companies offer a DRIP.
Every year Mergents compiles a list of companies, royalty income trusts and REITs from Canada that have increased their dividends for five consecutive years or more. The 2009 Canadian version now has 71 constituents, up from the 46 I reported last year. This increase was not an easy feat given the troubling economic times we now find ourselves in.
Stalwarts like The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS), The Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO), Fortis Incorporated (TSX:FTS) and TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) are consistently on the list. However, several income trust funds that also have dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) find themselves on the list including Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:REF.UN), Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:CUF.UN) and Keyera Facilities Income Fund (TSX:KEY.UN)
Mergent's have also published another index called the Canadian High Yield Dividend Growth 30 Portfolio. To be included, companies must trade on a major stock exchange like the TSX, have five or more years of equal or increasing regular annual dividend payments, a minimum average daily cash volume of $3,000,000 USD and a current dividend yield of 1%. The 30 companies with the largest market cap as of the last trading day in December are chosen for inclusion.
This index could be useful for an investor who wants to invest their money in large cap firms only. The indexes are by no means identical as companies like George Weston Limited (TSX:WN) and Loblaws Ltd (TSX:L) exist in the latter list and not the former.
Finally, while most companies in the indexes have DRPs, not all do. This is why it is a good idea to compare the index's list of constituents to the List of Canadian DRIPs and SPPs on this site to see which companies offer a DRIP.