One of the most successful investment strategies is to buy and hold stocks with track records of dividend growth; this is because a rising dividend is a sign of a very strong business with excellent cash flows and earnings to support increased payouts, and the dividends themselves really add up over time when reinvested.
This also means that investors should favour stocks with modest yields that have the ability to grow their dividends over time over ones with high yields that have little to no growth potential.
With all of this in mind, let’s take a closer look at three top dividend-growth stocks that you could buy today.
Saputo Inc.
Saputo Inc. (TSX:SAP) is Canada’s largest dairy processor, and it’s one of the 10 largest dairy processors in the world. Its products include cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products, and dairy ingredients, and its brands include Armstrong, COON, DairyStar, Saputo, Stella, and Woolwich Dairy.
Saputo currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, equal to $0.64 per share annually, and this gives it a yield of about 1.5% at the time of this writing. A 1.5% yield is far from high, but it’s crucial to note that the dairy processor has raised its annual dividend payment for 17 consecutive fiscal years, and its 6.7% hike in August has it on track for fiscal 2018 to mark the 18th consecutive year with an increase.
Canadian Natural Resources Limited
Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSX:CNQ)(NYSE:CNQ), or CNRL for short, is one of the world’s largest independent crude oil and natural gas producers. It has operations in western Canada, the U.K. portion of the North Sea, and Offshore Africa.
CNRL currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, equal to $1.10 per share annually, giving it a yield of about 2.6% at the time of this writing. Investors must note that the oil and gas producer has raised its annual dividend payment for 16 straight years, and its 10% hike in March has it on track for 2017 to mark the 17th consecutive year with an increase.
TransCanada Corporation
TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP)(NYSE:TRP) is one of North America’s largest owners, operators, and developers of energy infrastructure. Its assets include natural gas pipelines, crude oil pipelines, natural gas storage facilities, and power generation facilities, which are located across Canada and the United States.
TransCanada currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share, equal to $2.50 per share on an annualized basis, which gives it a yield of about 4.05% at the time of this writing. Investors must note that the energy infrastructure company’s 10.6% dividend hike in February has it on track for 2017 to mark the 17th consecutive year in which it has raised its annual dividend payment, and it has a dividend-growth program in place that calls for annual growth of 8-10% through 2020.
Which of these dividend aristocrats belongs in your portfolio?
Saputo, CNRL, and TransCanada are three of the best dividend-growth stocks in their respective industries, so take a closer look at each and consider adding at least one of them to your portfolio today.
