Dividend and distribution hikes - 2008

[JaydoubleU]

Don't forget Toromont (TIH). 14-->16 cents/quarter, a 16%+ increase

[Bylo Selhi]

Enbridge Q4 profit up, raises dividend

Enbridge also said it was increasing its dividend by 7.3 percent, to 33 Canadian cents per common share, payable on March 1.

[andyt]

Thomson Corp boosts dividend by 10%.

andyt

[Peculiar_Investor]

Next up, Canadian Tire, The Board of Directors of Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (CTC, CTC.a) today approved an increase in the 2008 quarterly dividend payments from $0.185 per share to $0.21 per share, an annualized increase of 13.5 percent. The total annualized dividend payment will rise from $0.74 per share to $0.84 per share.

[m1ax]

Computer Modelling Group Declares Quarterly Dividend


CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwire - Feb. 7, 2008) - Computer Modelling Group Ltd. (TSX:CMG - News; "CMG") today announced a 33.3% increase in its quarterly dividend to twenty cents ($0.20) per share on CMG's Common and Non-Voting Shares. The dividend will be paid on March 14, 2008 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 3, 2008.

Earnings should be out tomorrow. I guess that they will be very good.

[LAJ]

BAM.A


The Board of Directors declared a dividend of US$0.13 per Class A Common Share, payable on May 31, 2008, to shareholders of record as at the close of business on May 1, 2008, representing an increase from the current rate of US$0.12 per share.

[kjmcrae]

Home Capital Group Inc. (TSX:HCG) announces dividend increase

to 12.0 cents per share on the outstanding Common Shares of the Company, which is equivalent to an annual dividend of 48.0 cents per share. The dividend is payable on March 1, 2008 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 21, 2008.

[Lado]

Cameco Corporation...........(CCO) Annual div increased from $0.20 to $0.24
Enbridge Inc.................(ENB) Annual div increased from $1.23 to $1.32
Exco Technologies Limited....(XTC) Annual div increased from $0.06 to $0.07
Shoppers Drug Mart............(SC) Annual div increased from $0.64 to $0.86
Thomson Corporation..........(TOC) Annual div increased from $0.98 to $1.08
Toromont Industries..........(TIH) Annual div increased from $0.48 to $0.56
TransAlta Corp................(TA) Annual div increased from $1.00 to $1.08

[IdOp]

Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. posted 4Q07 results and announced:

a $0.025 per common share increase in the quarterly dividend, which will increase from $0.20 to $0.225 per common share, a 12.5% increase. This dividend translates into a payout ratio of 28% of the net earnings for the quarter, an increase over the 24% ratio paid out in the third quarter.

Disclosure: I own a bit.

[investor99]

3M raised 4% to $0.50/share.

[investor99]

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX/NYSE: SLF) today announced a quarterly shareholder dividend of $0.36 per common share, payable April 1, 2008 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 27, 2008. This represents an increase from the $0.34 paid in the previous quarter, bringing the total increase over the past year to 12.5%.

[pitz]

CALGARY — EnCana Corp. reports fourth-quarter profit rose 63 per cent to $1.08-billion on higher oil and gas production. Dividend doubled to 40 cents a share.

[Shakespeare]

MFC, $0.22->$0.24

[pmj]

MFC, $0.22->$0.24

I think that happened in November:
http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/WireFeedRedirect?cf=GlobeInvestor/config&vg=BigAdVariableGenerator&date=20071106&archive=cnw&slug=C4452

[bubbalouie]

anybody else get a sense that investors are getting sucked in by the increased dividends of many companies despite their falling earnings?

[Shakespeare]

Earnings are too noisy to worry about quarter-to-quarter.

[bubbalouie]

Earnings are too noisy to worry about quarter-to-quarter.

I don't consider it noise. I'm not permitted to hold losers in my portfolio.

[kjmcrae]

Great-West Lifeco (TSX:GWO) raises dividend 6.4% and reports full year 2007 results

...a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 per share on the common shares of the Company payable March 31, 2008 to shareholders of record at the close of business March 3, 2008.

[investor99]

IGM - $0.46 to $0.4875. ($0.0275) or 6%. 14% higher than last year at this time.

[Lado]

Brookfield Asset Management(BMA.A) Annual div increased from $0.48 to $0.52
Computer Modelling Group.....(CMG) Annual div increased from $0.60 to $0.80
Encana Corporation...........(ECA) Annual div increased from $0.78 to $1.56
Great-West Lifeco............(GWO) Annual div increased from $1.10 to $1.17
Home Capital Group...........(HCG) Annual div increased from $0.44 to $0.48
Industrial Alliance Insurance(IAG) Annual div increased from $0.80 to $0.90
Richelieu Hardware...........(RCH) Annual div increased from $0.28 to $0.32
Sun Life Financial...........(SLF) Annual div increased from $1.36 to $1.44

[bubbalouie]

No offense but I am getting more and more convinced that this thread is getting more and more meaningless in the big scheme of things.

I say this because :

1. I see more companies raising their dividends despite decreases in revenues and earnings.
2. Robert Shiller's Irrational Exuberance confirms that there is no correlation to dividends and stock prices.

In Shiller's case, he points out in clear form a chart form that shows there is no correlation to dividends and the stock market. In fact, one could argue that there is a NEGATIVE CORRELATION (ie. in environments of rising dividends comes falling stock prices).

--He points out for example that the S+P increased 415% from Dec 1920 to Sept 1929, yet dividends increased by only 16.4%.

--From September 1929 to June 1932, the market fell by 81% yet dividends fell by only 11%

-- From January 1973 to December 1974, the market fell 54% but dividends fell by only 6%.

The message is clear (at least to me). Dividends are not going to save you in an impending correction/crash. One can even argue that all these dividend increases are really just harbingers for lower stock prices. Too bad the mass media has brainwashed so many people in thinking that stocks with rising dividends are the best investments.

(BTW Not trying to be a troll; the crowd is often wrong imo)

[parvus]

Surprise! Higher Dividends = Higher Earnings Growth

Hmm, easier to clip from here (there's something funny about the latest versions of Adobe reader when it comes to cut and paste ):

Many market observers point to the very high fraction of earnings retained (or low dividend payout ratio) among companies today as a sign that future earnings growth will be well above historical norms. This view is sometimes interpreted as an extension of the work of Miller and Modigliani. They proved that, given certain assumptions about market efficiency, dividend policy should not matter to the value of a firm. Extending this concept intertemporally, and to the market as a whole, as many do, whenever market-wide dividend payout ratios are low, higher reinvestment of earnings should lead to faster future aggregate growth.

However, in the real world, many complications exist that could confound the expected inverse relationship between current payouts and future earnings growth. For instance, dividends might signals managers' private information about future earnings prospects, with low payout ratios indicating fear that the current earnings may not be sustainable. Alternatively, earnings might be retained for the purpose of "empire-building," which itself can negatively impact future earnings growth.

We test whether dividend policy, as we observe in the payout ratio of the market portfolio, forecasts future aggregate earnings growth. This is, in a sense, one test of whether dividend policy "matters." The historical evidence strongly suggests that expected future earnings growth is fastest when current payout ratios are high and slowest when payout ratios are low. This relationship is not subsumed by other factors such as simple mean reversion in earnings. Our evidence contradicts the views of many who believe that substantial reinvestment of retained earnings will fuel faster future earnings growth. Rather, it is fully consistent with anecdotal tales about managers signaling their earnings expectations through dividends, or engaging in inefficient empire building, at times; either of these phenomena will conform with a positive link between payout ratios and subsequent earnings growth.

Our findings offer a challenge to optimistic market observers who see recent low dividend payouts as a sign of high future earnings growth to come. These observers may prove to be correct, but history provides scant support for their thesis. This challenge is potentially all the more serious, as recent stock prices, relative to earnings, dividends and book values, rely heavily upon this expectation of superior future real earnings growth.

[bubbalouie]

For instance, dividends might signals managers' private information about future earnings prospects, with low payout ratios indicating fear that the current earnings may not be sustainable. Alternatively, earnings might be retained for the purpose of "empire-building," which itself can negatively impact future earnings growth.

Interesting last sentence. I wonder if "empire building" could also impact future earnings in a positive way.

[pmj]

Surprise! Higher Dividends = Higher Earnings Growth

Hmm, easier to clip from here (there's something funny about the latest versions of Adobe reader when it comes to cut and paste ):

It's not the version of Adobe that is the problem - that particular document is secured against everything except printing. I'm using Adobe 8 - there's a padlock icon at the left side that displays the settings, or you can use File - Properties (or something similar).

[Bylo Selhi]

It's not the version of Adobe that is the problem - that particular document is secured against everything except printing. I'm using Adobe 8 - there's a padlock icon at the left side...

Try this version. No pesky padlock. No restrictions. Cut and paste away.

Bylo Selhi: "Improvement without deterioration"