A variety of financial papers published lists provided by companies which access to the data and promoting their services. One such list was done by Craig McGee at Morningstar Research Inc. The big question Mr. McGee was asking was which companies have grown their dividends in the past years and are expected to continue to grow their dividends. Mr. McGee used a variety of criteria which were;

dividend change over the next 4 quarters vs the trailing 4 quarters.

dividend change over the trailing 4 quarters vs the prior 4 quarters

return on equity for the trailing 4 quarters

payout ratio using expected dividends as a percentage of the current year’s consensus earnings

What he found was 20 companies in Canada and the US which fit the criteria. The companies are meant as a starting point and also by looking at the Return on Equity how relatively safe and secure stocks give a healthy return for limited risk. If you are not getting at least the return of the best ones, perhaps your portfolio needs to be adjusted.

The companies are

Company                          Symbol      Expected Yield            ROE      Payout Ratio

PDL BioPharma               PDLI-Q            7.02%                   694.26%        29.13%

Enso Int’l PLC                    ESV-N            5.99                        11.58           50.85

BCE Inc                              BCE-T            5.07                         20.45            78.16

North West Co                  NWC-T             4.83                        22.71             81.69

Corus Entertainmt ,B    CJR B-T              4.46                        11.46              57.37

Shaw Comm B               SJR B-T            4.19                         18.45              62.50

Emera Inc                          EMA-T           4.12                         13.37             78.38

Mullen Group Ltd                MTL-T           4.09                         16.32           71.43

CIBC                                   CM-T            4.07                         21.68           44.44

PG&E Corp                          PCG-N        4.07                           8.80          60.67

National Bk of Can               NA-T           4.06                          18.35          42.11

Royal Bank of Can                RY-T            3.92                         19.26          47.89

Bank of Nova Scotia           BNS-T             3.91                        15.74           46.80

City Holding Co                     CHCO-Q        3.70                        14.0             49.84

CMS Energy Corp                  CMS-N          3.64                       13.10            61.36

Sturm Ruger & Co                 RGR-N          3.43                       80.27            52.81

CA Inc                                         CA-Q        3.28                       23.63            42.02

McDonald’s Corp                    MCD-N         3.26                       35.17             56.06

Dr. Pepper Snapple Gp           DPS-N         3.13                        28.59             48.24

GameStop Corp                         GME-N      3.12                       15.94             36.07

The above represent some of the best, but it should also show you the risk reward that dividend shares offer. For a relatively low risk, the return on equity has been very good the chart shows the dividend produces a plus 3% yield; the payout ratio shows the dividend for these companies can easily be maintained; and the ROE is primarily in the 15 to 25% range.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions