What are we looking for?
Canadian firms led by women offering highly sustainable dividends.
The screen
Friday marks International Women’s Day and invariably draws attention to gender equity gains, and remaining challenges, for Corporate Canada.
Even in this country, where women make up almost half of the work force, they represent only 5 per cent to 15 per cent of chief executives, depending on the research – and whether it’s focused on public and private companies or public firms only. Regardless, those figures suggest Canada has room for improvement, but women are already making sizable contributions across all industries.
Our search started with Canadian dividend-paying companies with sound growth prospects and dividends, with a woman at the helm. We then applied our TSI Dividend Sustainability Rating System. It awards points to a stock based on key factors:
- One point for five years of continuous dividend payments – two points for more than five;
- Two points if it has raised the payment in the past five years;
- One point for management’s commitment to dividends;
- One point for operating in non-cyclical industries;
- One point for limited exposure to foreign currency rates and freedom from political interference;
- Two points for a strong balance sheet, including manageable debt and adequate cash;
- Two points for a long-term record of positive earnings and cash flow sufficient to cover dividend payments;
- One point if the company is a leader in its industry.
Companies with 10 to 12 points have the most secure dividends, or the highest sustainability. Those with seven to nine points have above-average sustainability; average sustainability, four to six points; and below-average sustainability, one to three points.
More about TSI Network
TSI Network is the online home of The Successful Investor Inc. – the group of widely followed Canadian investment newsletters by editor and publisher Pat McKeough. They include our award-winning flagship newsletter, The Successful Investor. The TSI Best ETFs for Canadian Investors is the latest. TSI Network is also affiliated with Successful Investor Wealth Management.
What we found
Our TSI Dividend Sustainability Rating System generated five companies: Linda Hasenfratz has led Linamar Corp. since 2002 and has positioned it as a leading global auto-parts maker. Alberta-based utility Atco Ltd., too, has extended its international reach under Nancy Southern, CEO since 2003. Dawn Farrell became the chief executive of TransAlta Corp. in 2012 and is now transforming the utility. At K-Bro Linen Inc., Canada’s largest laundry and linen processor, Linda McCurdy, CEO since 2000, has just overseen a major expansion in British Columbia. In 2007, Sophie Brochu became CEO of Énergir LP, Quebec’s largest natural gas distributor, and jointly manages Valener Inc., the publicly traded holding company with a 29-per-cent stake in Énergir.
We advise investors to do additional research on any investments we identify here.
Scott Clayton, MBA, is senior analyst for TSI Network and associate editor of TSI Dividend Advisor.