As the market correction continues, some of Canada’s best dividend stocks are getting really cheap.
Here are the reasons why I think investors should consider Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS)(NYSE:BNS) and Inter Pipeline Ltd. (TSX:IPL).
Bank of Nova Scotia
Bank of Nova Scotia is Canada’s most international bank, and that’s exactly why investors should be buying the stock right now.
The company has full-service operations in more than 30 countries, but the most interesting part of the international strategy lies in four key markets: Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile.
These countries form the core of the Pacific Alliance, a trade bloc set up to promote the free movement of capital and goods among the member markets.
How big is the opportunity?
As a group, the bloc contains nearly 200 million consumers. Mexico alone only has a banking penetration rate of 40%, and the middle class is expanding right across the region.
Through its investments in each of the four markets, Bank of Nova Scotia is well positioned to tap the growing demand for credit from retail clients as well as offer important cash management solutions to businesses that are expanding to the other countries.
In a recent statement, the bank said it expects to hit double-digit-growth targets in the region.
Bank of Nova Scotia pays a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share that yields 5.4%.
Inter Pipeline
Investors are bailing out of anything connected to the energy sector, but Inter Pipeline looks like a case of the baby being thrown out with the bath water.
The company transports 15% of western Canada’s conventional oil production and 35% of the country’s oil sands production. That doesn’t sound like a great business to be in right now, but oil sands companies are going to keep producing oil regardless of the price because it is simply too expensive to shut down the operations.
Inter Pipeline also runs a storage business. Utilization rates in the European operations jumped from 78% in Q3 2014 to 93% in Q3 2015. The company is constructing a 400,000-barrel facility in Saskatchewan that should be in service by the end of this year and will provide a nice boost to cash flow.
Inter Pipeline recently increased its monthly dividend by more than 6% to 13 cents per share. Investors should take the move as a sign than management is comfortable with the cash flow and earnings outlook, despite the tough times in the energy sector.
Inter Pipeline’s dividend now yields about 8.3%.
