When someone knows very little about investing, you’ll often hear them say they don’t pay attention to their savings. They simply set some of their income aside, and forget about it. After all, why pay attention to your holdings if you don’t know how to react?
Ironically, that attitude is exactly the right one. Meanwhile, more experienced investors are inclined to trade too often, which has shown time and time again to hamper returns.
So with that in mind, below we take a look at three companies that you can count on for a long time. In other words, if you buy the shares, you can forget about them. As a bonus, they all pay a very nice dividend.
1. Rogers Communications
If you read any newspapers, the world of telecommunications may seem very topsy-turvy. Just in the past year, there have been plenty of stories about increased regulation, cord cutting, failed mergers, successful mergers, the threat of increasing competition, and big price tags for spectrum licenses. But through it all, Canada’s big three providers just keep chugging along.
As it stands, the cheapest of the big three is Rogers Communications (TSX: RCI.B)(NYSE: RCI), at just under 14 times earnings. And thanks to its cheap price, the shares yield over 4%.
2. Fortis
Speaking of strong companies in stable industries, Fortis (TSX: FTS) may be the safest stock you could possibly buy. The company is Canada’s largest investor-owned distribution utility, meaning its services will have plenty of demand as long as we want to keep the lights on. And this shows up in Fortis’s numbers; the company has raised its dividend every year for over four decades, a remarkable achievement for any company.
Fortis shares have lagged over the past year, mainly because rising interest rates have made its dividend less attractive. So now the stock arguably trade at a nice discount, and as a result the dividend yield is a healthy 4.0%.
3. TransCanada
Like the first two companies, pipeline operator TransCanada (TSX: TRP)(NYSE: TRP) operates critical infrastructure, and as a result is able to churn out very consistent earnings. Yet concerns about the fate of its Keystone XL project are likely holding the shares back, and as a result the shares yield close to 4%. By comparison, TransCanada’s biggest rival, Enbridge, yields well under 3%.
But Keystone is only a small part of TransCanada’s portfolio of commercially secured projects, so the company will continue doing what it does best, no matter what President Obama decides. Meanwhile, TransCanada’s shareholders won’t even have to pay attention.
