Many retirees use dividend stocks to supplement their monthly pension incomes, but most stocks pay quarterly, which means investors have to do some careful budgeting.
Fortunately, there are several companies that give shareholders a piece of the profits every month.
Once in a while these companies become available at attractive prices and investors get a chance to pick up reliable monthly income as well as a shot at some upside gains in the stock price.
Here are the reasons why I think income investors should consider adding Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G)(NYSE:GG) and Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX:SJR.B)(NYSE:SJR) to their portfolios.
Goldcorp
Goldcorp isn’t a name that normally comes up in dividend discussions, but the company has a very strong track record of increasing the payout.
In fact, Goldcorp has more than tripled its payout in the past five years, and the current monthly distribution of US$0.05 per share yields about 3.5%.
The company continues to increased production across its portfolio of mines. Last year Goldcorp produced 2.9 million ounces of gold and output expected to increase to 3.6 million ounces in 2015.
Goldcorp is also doing a good job of managing its capital expenditures and this bodes well for investors who are looking for stability or even an increase to the dividend. The company plans to spend US$1.2-1.4 billion on capital projects this year compared with US$2.2 billion in 2014.
Dividends are paid out of cash flow available after capital expenditures are covered, so the lower capex guidance means more funds should be available for investors.
Shaw Communications Inc.
Shaw is primarily known as a cable provider, but there is a lot more to the story than just the attractive tollbooth revenue flow from TV and Internet subscribers.
The company is a media powerhouse with a portfolio of assets that includes the Global Television network as well as specialty channels such as HGTV Canada, Showcase, and Food Network Canada.
Beginning next March, subscribers will have the option to pick and pay for the channels they want to watch.
This has the market concerned that the media companies will take a beating on the revenue front, but the more likely scenario is that subscribers will simply pay the same, but have all the channels they really want.
Shaw’s content is very popular, so the new system might work out in its favour.
I think the market is underestimating Shaw’s overall strength while completely ignoring the company’s growing business infrastructure division, which should contribute significant cash flow in the coming years.
Shaw pays a monthly dividend of $0.09875 per share that yields about 4.4%.
