I hate dealing with the Toronto-Dominion Bank, but that’s exactly why I love the stock.
Account fees. Statement fees. Inactivity fees. Each year more of my cash seems to end up in the bank’s coffers.
Then last week I received a letter from the company. It was jacking up the fees on my chequing account yet again!
Enraged, I called customer service and threatened to take my business elsewhere. But I never followed through. As maddening as it is to pay up the nose for basic services, the hassle of moving my accounts is just too much work.
So I stay, and the charges keep rising.
But I can’t believe I’m the only one who’s frustrated. The question is, how can we fight back? Buy the stock.
You can bet there are thousands of other saps just like me stuck feeding more money into TD’s pockets. But for investors, that means a rising share price… and juicy dividends.
Of course, it’s not just banks that get under my skin. Utilities. Telecos. Oil companies. There are plenty of other businesses we hate that, fortunately, make great investments.
Here are three more despised stocks that should be in your portfolio.
1. Imperial Oil Limited
Last spring, I would have rather walked over broken glass in my bare feet than fill up my car.
I still remember wincing at the pump when gas prices hit $1.50 per litre. But the pain is a little more tolerable when you own shares of Imperial Oil Limited (TSX: IMO)(NYSE:IMO).
It’s like morphine for your wallet. When those fat cats in Calgary start raking in the big bucks, you can feel better when you’re rolling in the dough with them.
In the case of Imperial, the company made $671 million in profits last quarter alone and has paid a dividend every year since 1891. Unless Canadians start fueling their cars with pixie dust, I expect that tradition to continue for many more years to come.
2. Rogers Communications Inc.
This article would not be complete unless it included at least one telecom company.
Today, I’m picking on Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX: RCI.B)(NYSE: RCI), though frankly, you could slap any one of Canada’s big three telecos on this list.
Last year, an OECD study found Canada is among the 10 most expensive countries for Internet service worldwide. At the same time, trade group Ookla ranked Canada 34th in a recent survey of global Internet speeds.
Yet even though Rogers hiked Internet bills by $3 per month last summer, the service remained exactly the same.
This money is going straight into the pockets of shareholders. Since 2005, the company has increased its quarterly dividend 48-fold. Today the stock yields a tidy 4.2%.
3. Visa Inc.
Each month, thousands of people complete the same dreaded ritual… paying their Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) bills.
But here’s something you might not know: Visa isn’t a bank. It doesn’t lend any money at all. It’s more like a toll booth, earning a fee each time you swipe your plastic.
Today, three out of every five transactions in North America are done via credit and debit cards. And as the world moves away from cash, Visa’s income stream will continue to grow.
That will mean plenty of dividend hikes for shareholders in the future.
