A bear market certainly isn’t great for many reasons. Your portfolio drops, and suddenly all that growth Motley Fool investors experienced in the last few years has gone out the window. But it also presents opportunities. And one of the best right now is with Fiera Capital (TSX: FSZ). Fiera Capital stock currently offers an insanely high 9.1% dividend yield. So, here’s why you should lock it in right now.
Solid growth performance
Fiera Capital stock is an investment manager for businesses ranging from institutions to charities. While it does involve itself in fixed-income and balanced portfolios, it does focus quite a bit on Canada. It mainly invests in growth and value stocks of companies that have a small market capitalization, and value stocks and large-cap stocks if they promise growth at a reasonable pace.
This focus has done well for the company, offering an incredibly high dividend in the mix. In the last decade, shares have climbed 106% as of writing. Meanwhile, that 9.1% dividend yield has grown for Fiera Capital stock at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of an incredible 39%!
What about now?
The main downside to Fiera Capital stock is that it trades at about $10 per share. Shares are down 5% as of writing year to date, but even before the bear market the company isn’t all that expensive. This means that fluctuations in the market can hit it hard.
In fact, during the March 2020 crash shares plummeted, losing more than half of its value in that time. Yet it wasn’t for the performance by the company. And, in fact, lately Fiera has shown it’s up to the challenge when it comes to identifying growth.
Most recently, Fiera Capital stock announced a private placement of $100 million senior debenture to redeem a $86.25 million convertible debenture due next year. This will be moved towards debt for its credit facility.
This also came after a strong first quarter, where Fiera beat out earnings estimates for yet another quarter. It achieved $172.3 million in revenue, and assets under management climbing to $174.5 billion. The downside was that its net earnings dropped significantly by 85%. The drop was attributed to a decrease in adjusted EBITDA, higher costs, and the fall in share price.
What’s next?
Fiera Capital stock will certainly come back up as it’s done again and again over the last 18 years. The company continues to pay out a monthly dividend, one that hasn’t been cut in the last decade at least and continues to grow.
Meanwhile, it’s likely taking this time to seize opportunities that you should be as well. Fiera continues to grow its credit in order to make these investments, and allow for superb growth after the bear market is over.
So, if you want to lock in a dividend today and see shares grow, Fiera Capital stock is certainly one I would consider — especially as it trades at a fair 17.98 times earnings, and a 2.57 times book value. A $10,000 investment would bring in $872 per year today.
