# Dividend / Distribution Increases 2020



## gardner

Time for a 2020 thread to carry on where the 2019 thread left off
https://www.canadianmoneyforum.com/showthread.php/136592-Dividend-Distribution-Increases-2019

Start things off with the previously mentioned increase in BCE's dividend...



> BCE reports 2019 Q4 and full-year results, announces 2020 financial targets 5% dividend increase to $3.33 per year


https://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/r...ar-results-announces-2020-financial-targets-1


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## dubmac

gardner said:


> Start things off with the previously mentioned increase in BCE's dividend...


Great to see this 5% raise. I don't get much in the way of raises at work, so, this is a treat.


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## yyz

Manulife increases by 12%
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/bus...t-misses-estimates-on-decline-in-japan-sales/


Cisco also increases by 3%

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cisco-reports-second-quarter-earnings-210500924.html


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## 0xCC

TC Energy (formerly Trans Canada) increased dividends by 6c/quarter to 81c/quarter an 8% increase.
https://www.tcenergy.com/siteassets...-reports/2019/tc-2019-q4-quarterly-report.pdf (details at the end of the first paragraph of the earnings release).


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## dubmac

ABX Barrick hiked their dividend by 40%! and, apparently, strives to obtain zero debt by 2021.
https://www.mining.com/barrick-beats-forecasts-hikes-dividend-by-40-as-gold-prices-soar/


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## Retiredguy

Boston Pizza BPF.un Reduces payout by 11.3% from .115 to .102 per month.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/boston-pizza-royalties-income-fund-130000614.html


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## Beaver101

^ Interpretation of above ... a negative increase ... lol.


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## Parkuser

Brookfield BAM-A.TO increases by 12.5% and announces split 3:2.


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## 0xCC

Royal Bank increased by 3c/quarter to 1.08/quarter (4.32 annualized), a 2.86% increase.


http://www.rbc.com/newsroom/news/2020/20200221-q1-dividends.html


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## Money172375

TD dividend increase 7%.....up $0.05

TORONTO, Feb. 27, 2020 /CNW/ - The Toronto-Dominion Bank (the Bank) today announced that a dividend in an amount of seventy-nine cents (79 cents) per fully paid common share in the capital stock of the Bank has been declared for the quarter ending April 30, 2020, payable on and after April 30, 2020, to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 9, 2020. This represents an increase in the quarterly dividend of five cents or 7% compared with last quarter


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## gardner

CIBC announced a small -- ~1.4% increase yesterday. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cibc-earnings-profit-1.5476425



> it will now pay a quarterly dividend of $1.46 per common share, up from $1.44 per share.


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## like_to_retire

I see that The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is changing rules for the banks (that were implemented back in 2008 financial crisis) to loosen up capital. 

 But there's a catch. Don't use the extra cash to increase dividends or buy back shares.

ltr


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## Eder

Couldn't find this thread earlier...Premium Brands knocking it out of the park...increased divy by 10% ...6th year in a row double digit increases.


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## privateEquityExec

There likely will no longer be any increases if this Corona Virus impacts earnings in the way the market is projecting.


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## like_to_retire

After the elimination of PWF, POW increases the dividend quite a bit. There were many years where the dividend was unchanged. Interesting to see such a large increase.

_Power Corporation declared a 10.5% increase in its quarterly dividend to 44.75 cents per participating share._

ltr


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## milhouse

Ford just suspended its divvy (and withdrew 2020 guidance) to preserve cash due to flagging sales. 

Its probably not going to be too much a surprise but it'll be somewhat interesting to see who is going to be able to sustain their dividend, let alone grow it/deliver on growth guidance when so much commerce has slowed to a crawl or stopped in many instances.


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## AltaRed

milhouse said:


> Ford just suspended its divvy (and withdrew 2020 guidance) to preserve cash due to flagging sales.
> 
> Its probably not going to be too much a surprise but it'll be somewhat interesting to see who is going to be able to sustain their dividend, let alone grow it/deliver on growth guidance when so much commerce has slowed to a crawl or stopped in many instances.


Must be more too it than that. Are they cash thin? Auto sales can be deferred to a later date but they still need to happen eventually, e.g. later this year or 2021, when things return to normal to replace worn out vehicles.


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## milhouse

AltaRed said:


> Must be more too it than that. Are they cash thin? Auto sales can be deferred to a later date but they still need to happen eventually, e.g. later this year or 2021, when things return to normal to replace worn out vehicles.


I don't own F so am not very familiar with their situation overall. But on the surface, based on the articles I've read, they just seem to be hunkering down.


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## AltaRed

milhouse said:


> I don't own F so am not very familiar with their situation overall. But on the surface, based on the articles I've read, they just seem to be hunkering down.


Maybe 2008/2009 is still too fresh in their minds....recognizing they were the only auto maker not to go hat in hand to Washington in that time period. Hope all goes well for them. I think they are making some of the right strategic moves to shift their vehicle line.


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## milhouse

The G&M's John Heinzl had a short article on Friday answering a reader question of if he believed companies will cut their dividends in the current crisis (and a question about superficial losses) (paywall). He notes Ford's suspension of their dividend to provide "near term flexibility" and Boeing and Exxon Mobile being on the radar of analysts as possibly next. He also says he expects to see "plenty of dividend reductions over the next few months." which is not surprising IMO with already so much news around business closures, layoffs, etc. The restaurant and travel industries are the obvious ones that jump out at me. ex. The Keg and Boston Pizza Royalties are yielding something like a crazy 18%. However, John also quotes Cory O'Krainetz of Odlum Brown who believes this might be a buying opportunity for utilities, pipelines, and telecoms due to long-term value, good capitalization, and sustainable dividends of these companies in these sectors, identifying: Enbridge, TC Energy, Telus, Rogers, BCE, Canadian Utilities, Emera, and Fortis.

[Disclosure: I own shares in a number of the companies on the list.]


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## AltaRed

Those latter boring utilities, pipelines, telecoms and banks aren't so bad after all. Anyone playing in the royalty space with the .UN symbols are going to see major cuts, perhaps total suspensions.


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## m3s

Kirkland Lake doubled its dividend a few days ago



milhouse said:


> I don't own F so am not very familiar with their situation overall. But on the surface, based on the articles I've read, they just seem to be hunkering down.


TSLA cYbeRtruk


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## Franko

AltaRed said:


> Those latter boring utilities, pipelines, telecoms and banks aren't so bad after all. Anyone playing in the royalty space with the .UN symbols are going to see major cuts, perhaps total suspensions.


Care to elaborate on your thoughts?


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## cainvest

AltaRed said:


> Anyone playing in the royalty space with the .UN symbols are going to see major cuts, perhaps total suspensions.


Yup, some dividend cuts already announced.


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## milhouse

cainvest said:


> Yup, some dividend cuts already announced.


Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund's announcement today suspending their distributions starting with the March distribution payable April 30. The March 31 payment is still going out.


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## londoncalling

New Flyer Industries takes a dive 









NFI Group Update on Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic


/CNW/ - (TSX: NFI) NFI Group Inc. ("NFI" or the "Company") provides this update relating to the impact of the global COVID-19 (or "Coronavirus") pandemic....




www.newswire.ca





I think I figured out why the stock is down almost 33% on the day. Ouch. I had an order placed to add to NFI back in Feb. Glad I cancelled it.


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## Money172375

Algonquin raises dividend.



https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/algonquin-power-utilities-corp-announces-213000436.html


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## Raggedy Dandy

BIP (and likely the Canadian trust units as well) offered up a nearly 10% haircut on their div/distribution. Up nearly 2% to start the day on that news - we'll see where it leads.









Brookfield Infrastructure Reports First Quarter 2020 Results


BROOKFIELD, NEWS, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via COMTEX) -- BROOKFIELD, NEWS, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE: BIP; TSX:...




www.marketwatch.com


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## londoncalling

Raggedy Dandy said:


> BIP (and likely the Canadian trust units as well) offered up a nearly 10% haircut on their div/distribution. Up nearly 2% to start the day on that news - we'll see where it leads.
> 
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> Brookfield Infrastructure Reports First Quarter 2020 Results
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> BROOKFIELD, NEWS, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via COMTEX) -- BROOKFIELD, NEWS, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE: BIP; TSX:...
> 
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> www.marketwatch.com


I own hold positions in each stock mentioned from post 25-28.


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## multifaceted

Money172375 said:


> Algonquin raises dividend.
> 
> 
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> https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/algonquin-power-utilities-corp-announces-213000436.html


I was happy to see that. AQN nice and steady


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## BigMFfan

Raggedy Dandy said:


> BIP (and likely the Canadian trust units as well) offered up a nearly 10% haircut on their div/distribution. Up nearly 2% to start the day on that news - we'll see where it leads.
> 
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> Brookfield Infrastructure Reports First Quarter 2020 Results
> 
> 
> BROOKFIELD, NEWS, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via COMTEX) -- BROOKFIELD, NEWS, May 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE: BIP; TSX:...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.marketwatch.com


This is NOT a dividend decrease. BIP.UN did a share distribution at the end of March of BIPC shares (1 for every 9 shares of BIP.UN held). When you take this into account, the dividend is approx. the same as March 2020's.


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## Money172375

BigMFfan said:


> This is NOT a dividend decrease. BIP.UN did a share distribution at the end of March of BIPC shares (1 for every 9 shares of BIP.UN held). When you take this into account, the dividend is approx. the same as March 2020's.


I read the headline as a 10%*decrease.*


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## like_to_retire

Money172375 said:


> I read the headline as a 10%*decrease.*


Nope, it wasn't a decrease. It was a wash.

ltr


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## dubmac

AW.UN restored their monthly distribution. $0.10 per month


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## Raggedy Dandy

Capital Power has upped their dividend by 6.8% to $2.05 annually, and reinstated their DRIP...









Capital Power reports solid second quarter 2020 results, announces a 6.8% dividend increase for its common shares, and the Strathmore Solar project - Capital Power


EDMONTON, Alberta – Capital Power Corporation (TSX: CPX) today released financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. Highlights...




www.capitalpower.com


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## like_to_retire

Saputo Inc. (TSX: SAP). MONTREAL, Aug. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Directors reviewed the dividend policy and increased the quarterly dividend from $0.17 per share to $0.175 per share, representing a 2.9% increase. The quarterly dividend will be payable on October 2, 2020, to common shareholders of record on September 22, 2020.

I'm pleased as that's 11 dividend increases for my 24 Canadian stocks this year and no dividend suspensions or reductions so far. Total dividend increase so far this year is 2.66%, which is rather anemic, but still quite good considering the tough year it's been.


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## AltaRed

I agree those are good results given the year it has been, but put that Saputo one into context. It was about keeping the streak alive. There will be a few others that do similar.....

P.S. I have had one Cdn cut so far in 2020 courtesy of NFI.


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## Money172375

Emera Approves Increase in Common Dividend


On September 16, 2020 the Board of Directors of Emera Inc. (TSX: EMA) approved an increase in the annual common share dividend to $2.55 from $2.45 per



www.businesswire.com


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## milhouse

Fortis 2021-2025 five year outlook conference call and presentation announces ~6% average annual dividend growth guidance to 2025. 
I believe the last guidance was to 2024.


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## londoncalling

milhouse said:


> Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund's announcement today suspending their distributions starting with the March distribution payable April 30. The March 31 payment is still going out.







__





TMX Money







money.tmx.com





Distribution is back but at a lower rate than before it was suspended. The stock is up 43% on the day closing at 7.75 but still way below its 52 week high of 17.41.


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## Retiredguy

First National Financial - 7.7% Dividend increase and .50 special dividend.

*Common Share Dividend Increase and Special Dividend Declaration*
Today, the Board of Directors also announced an increase to the Company's regular monthly dividend and the payment of a special dividend.

Effective with the payment on December 15, 2020, the common share dividend will increase to $2.10 per share on an annualized basis from its current annualized rate of $1.95 per share. Additionally, a special common share dividend in the amount of $0.50 per share will be paid on December 15, 2020 to shareholders of record on November 30, 2020. This special payment reflects the Board's determination that over the past year, First National has generated excess capital and can continue to fund its near-term growth opportunities from operations.


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## Money172375

Royal Dutch Shell increases...









Royal Dutch Shell Surprises With Dividend Hike After Earnings Beat. The Stock Is Rising.


Royal Dutch Shell stock climbed on Thursday, as the oil major surprised investors with a dividend hike after beating expectations in the third quarter.




www.barrons.com


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## Money172375

I’ve always stayed away from CT stock.....but it seems like a decent holding.









Canadian Tire reports higher Q3 profit and sales, raises dividend - BNN Bloomberg


The retailer says it will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.175 per share, up from $1.1375 per share.




www.bnnbloomberg.ca


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## Eder

Dividend hikes everywhere this quarter
Canadian Tire, Artis, High Liner Foods and a few others

but my fav is this one:

Quarterly dividend increased to $0.3112 per share, representing an approximate 7 per cent increase as TELUS resumes its leading multi-year dividend growth program, supported by a robust capital structure, strong liquidity position, and healthy cash flow generation


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## newfoundlander61

Very good, I have 1750 shares of Telus in my TFSA.


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## dubmac

Telus continues to make some very interesting moves - they bought Lionsbridge AI, 
Not sure what that will do to the debt they carry (Which is rather large), but with interest rates low likely not a big concern now.
Happy with the dividend increase - I hold this one on our non-reg account.


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## Money172375

Dividend increase AND a special dividend For Leon’s Furniture.



https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/john-deere-national-black-growers-151000413.html


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## AltaRed

dubmac said:


> Telus continues to make some very interesting moves - they bought Lionsbridge AI,
> Not sure what that will do to the debt they carry (Which is rather large), but with interest rates low likely not a big concern now.
> Happy with the dividend increase - I hold this one on our non-reg account.


I like the dividend increase but I also hope they are not going to undermine the business with too much debt and too much payout....like some companies such as ENB have done.


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## londoncalling

Intertape increases dividend 4 cents. Share price up over 20% on the day






Intertape Polymer Group







www.itape.com





Most of my portfolio ended the day in the red.


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## gardner

6% increase from Loblaw...


https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loblaws-earnings-pay-1.5800766




> All in all, the company was confident enough with its financial performance to boost its dividend by two cents a share, to 33.5 cents.


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## newfoundlander61

George Weston: "its quarterly dividend will be increased to 55 cents per share, up from 52.5 cents per share."


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## Money172375

Distribution cut from Riocan. So much for the “guarantee” offered by the CEO in May.









RioCan slashes distribution 33% amid 'challenging environment' - BNN Bloomberg


RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust is slashing its payout to investors as COVID-19 wreaks havoc on the real estate industry, and after the big landlord's CEO pledged to preserve the distribution earlier this year.




www.bnnbloomberg.ca













RioCan CEO guarantees distribution amid COVID-19 turmoil - BNN Bloomberg


The chief executive officer of RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust has a message for investors: The company’s distributions are safe.




www.bnnbloomberg.ca


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## Beaver101

^ I didn't know that a "CEO" can "guarantee" a dividend increase ... unlike guaranteeing bank executives' bonuses:

Big banks paying $13 billion in bonuses

Seems like there're a number of RIOCAN investors on CMF and needless to say, they're very disappointed given the multiple threads/posts:

RioCan REIT (REI.UN)

RioCan slashes distribution 33% amid 'challenging...


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## Money172375

Perhaps we change the thread title from “increases” to “changes”


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## Beaver101

^ I think I suggested that at one point ... don't have time to dig up my post. 

Anyhow, changing the word from "increases" to "changes" still no change the meaning of "guarantee".


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## AltaRed

There never are guarantees of anything like that. Just a CEO's word which may come back to bite him/her very hard. I disregard any management comments made like that...except to note that CEO's credibility is on the line. Remember when IPL said a similar thing not that many months before a major slash?


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## doctrine

AltaRed said:


> There never are guarantees of anything like that. Just a CEO's word which may come back to bite him/her very hard. I disregard any management comments made like that...except to note that CEO's credibility is on the line. Remember when IPL said a similar thing not that many months before a major slash?


This is true, but at least IPL cut it on 30 March 2020 when it became clear the pandemic was real and shutdowns were starting. RIOCAN spent 8 months insisting they were fine when they were clearly not fine, which shows poor judgement. I don't think it's a bad decision from Riocan, but they should have done it 6 months ago or at least warned it was possible. Now you have to trust this management to have the judgement to invest that capital wisely in an area which is not their specialty, which is mixed use, and hope they don't build a bunch of condos on top of malls that no one wants.


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## AltaRed

The pandemic was mostly just a good excuse for IPL to cut the dividend that needed cutting anyway. They placed too much faith on their NGL processing revenue and flat out shipping volumes in their pipelines to fund Heartland and when those revenue streams weakened ever so slightly because of the pandemic reducing demand, they found themselves squeezed. I mentioned those issues back in 2019 at least a few times as potentially vulnerable undersides.

Managements that don't have some "slack" built into their business models will often have to eat crow.


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## londoncalling

Money172375 said:


> Perhaps we change the thread title from “increases” to “changes”


Not a bad idea at all. I did a quick search and there were threads for cuts in 2015 and 2018. My hope is that the cuts never exceed the increases.


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## Money172375

Enbridge raises dividend 3%






Enbridge Inc. Announces Three Percent Quarterly Dividend Increase for 2021


/PRNewswire/ - Enbridge Inc. (TSX: ENB) (NYSE: ENB) (Enbridge or the Company) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of...




www.prnewswire.com




.


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## dubmac

I don;t understand why ENB is increasing the dividend. Haven;t looked at their books, but given the yield of 7.57%, why? Why on earth would you increase the yield? (I was actually wondering whether they don't reduce the dividend!)


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## Eder

A token increase to keep their streak alive. I don't think they struggle to pay their dividend.


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## james4beach

dubmac said:


> I don;t understand why ENB is increasing the dividend. Haven;t looked at their books, but given the yield of 7.57%, why? Why on earth would you increase the yield? (I was actually wondering whether they don't reduce the dividend!)


I have a large position in ENB (it's in my 5-pack) but I still worry a bit about this dividend. Enbridge keeps adding more long term debt.

Over the last year, they borrowed an additional $3 billion in long term debt and at the same time, paid out ~ $7 billion in dividends. They could have also took on NO new debt and paid only $4 billion in dividends. Remember that the dividends are cash going out the door. If they only paid $4 billion in dividends (a 40% reduction), they wouldn't have had to borrow any money at all!

Enbridge is funding a significant amount of their dividend using debt. This seems magical with interest rates so low, but what if interest rates rise and the bond market is no longer willing to lend Enbridge money for cheap? Well... that dividend isn't necessarily that safe.


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## AltaRed

It is not as bad as you think. Take some time to read today's investor presentation I linked in the ENB thread, especially the latter part on the financial graphs. Their cash flow is growing faster than they are increasing the dividend so that is positive. D/EBITDA ratio remains about the same even with capex spend so the ratio remains constant.


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## Money172375

AltaGas up 4%






AltaGas Provides Update on Strategic Plan, Introduces 2021 Financial Guidance and Increases Dividend by 4%


/CNW/ - AltaGas Ltd. (AltaGas or the Company) (TSX: ALA) today provided an update on its long-term strategic plan, reiterated 2020 guidance, introduced its...




www.newswire.ca


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## doctrine

WCP announced a 6% increase to its dividend after the TOG acquisition to 1.508 cents monthly from 1.425 cents. WCP is up nearly 100% in just the last 5 weeks. This is the first dividend increase in the Cdn oil patch I believe post-crash, although Suncor already announced a new buyback program for next year so there has been some excess capital identified.

Also note that despite being 1.508 cents monthly, WCP used to pay 6.25 cents a share as recently as January 2016, still down 76%.


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## AltaRed

That is only if the merger succeeds and won't apply until circa April 2021. I commented elsewhere this kind of consolidation is needed and the overlap the 2 companies have should result in substantial operational efficiencies. WCP just finished (I think) the absorption of NAL. This game will need to continue if they wish to remain relevant and competitive for the next 10 years. These companies have a fairly substantial production decline rate in the order of 20%/yr that requires enormous capital every year to stand still. That is way more than a big company average of perhaps 10%/yr.

Key message: Margin (netback) improvements will be key to success (for everyone).


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