Now that August is finally here and we’re halfway through the dog days of summer, it’s a good time to undertake a quick review of your portfolio and either rebalance it or pick up some worthwhile investments before the back-to-school rush, changing of the weather and other tasks begin to eat away at our time.
Here are some great picks to consider adding to your portfolio.
Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B)(NYSE:RCI) is the second-largest telecom in the country, and one of particular interest for growth-minded investors.
In the most recent quarterly update provided last month, Rogers surpassed expectations and posted the best growth numbers seen in nearly a decade, with 122,000 new wireless subscribers. It also impressed with the lowest churn rate seen in a decade of just 1.01%.
Those much-improved results can be primarily attributed to Rogers’ ongoing improvements ushered in by its CEO, Joe Natale. Natale emphasized improving customer service while ensuring that a viable long-term strategy of converging services was in place to include various segments such as home monitoring and automation, wireless devices, Internet services and a new IP-based TV service dubbed Ignite TV slated to come to market this year.
Beyond its growth prospects, Rogers offers investors a 3.00% quarterly dividend, and currently trades for over $66 with a P/E of 18.93 at the time of writing.
Earlier this year, Canadian National Railway Company (TSX:CNR)(NYSE:CNI) had a dismal winter, with massive delays disrupting what was otherwise the most efficient and well-run railroad in the country. A plentiful harvest last fall followed by a very cold and harsh winter resulted in farmers waiting for trains to move their crops and CN eventually meeting under one-fifth of its orders for February.
Thankfully, Canadian National has rebounded nicely since that last quarter, with a near 10% improvement in the operating ratio and net income soaring 27% over the same period last year.
Throw in CN’s respectable 1.65% dividend, over 10% improvement in the stock price year-to-date and the overall importance on the North American economy and you have an impressive long-term investment that can only go up.
One of the most promising long-term investments to add to any portfolio is a utility stock, and Fortis Inc. (TSX:FTS)(NYSE:FTS) is a great candidate to consider.
Like most utilities, Fortis offers a stable business model that is supported through regulated contracts that can span two or more decades. That stability results in a recurring stream of revenue that helps Fortis pass on a very healthy quarterly dividend with a yield of 4.03%.
In terms of dividend growth, Fortis proudly boasts maintaining an annual hike to its dividend that has so far surpassed four decades, making it a great long-term holding to buy and forget.
At the current price of $43, Fortis has a P/E of 18.27.
You can’t get too far into a list of great investment picks without mentioning at least one of Canada’s Big Banks, and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD)(NYSE:TD) is an appealing choice for both growth-minded as well as income-seeking investors.
Over the course of the past decade, TD has expanded heavily along the east coast of the U.S. Much of that growth happened from buying distressed banks during the financial crisis, ultimately leading to TD having more branches in the U.S. than it does in Canada.
Along with those additional branches the U.S. market offers higher interest rates and more deposits, all of which have helped the bank pull in record-breaking results.
TD offers investors a quarterly dividend that pays out a respectable 3.47%, which has been hiked on an annual or better basis going back years, but few investors realize that TD has been paying out dividends for over a century.
TD currently trades at just below $77 with a P/E of 13.61.
