In this piece, we’ll check in on a dividend stock that I’d be more than willing to hang on to for at least the next several decades. Undoubtedly, never selling isn’t realistic, especially when unforeseen financial emergencies hit. But, either way, I think that going into the stock-hunting process with such an extended time horizon in mind could be the key to building seriously impressive wealth over time. In a time when it’s become fun, exciting, and perhaps even instantly rewarding to trade in and out of stocks, especially as a technological trend like AI (some consider it to be a revolutionary trend) looks to take command of broader markets.
In my view, the AI boom might be the real deal, but if you pay too high a premium for it, it’s still more than possible to lose money, perhaps even big money, over a near-term time span. That’s why insisting on value and dividends could be the way to go, even if it means having a lack of stories to tell around the workplace watercooler.
Sure, you might not gain praise for catching the next AI semi play, but, at the very least, you’ll be in a spot to sleep well at night knowing that you won’t be caught skating offside once the market is ready to blow the whistle and assign certain overheated names to the penalty box, perhaps for a double major or worse.
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Fortis
Remember, just because you believe in a tech-driven trend doesn’t mean you should go all-in on the theme. Every so often, we’ll get rotations, and with valuations standing at a high point on many of the growthier plays on the market (especially south of the border), I think sticking with a steady name like Fortis (TSX: FTS) could make a ton of sense right here. Of course, nobody is going to be all that thrilled with such a stock pick.
It is a retiree staple, after all. But with a robust dividend growth trajectory and the potential to raise the bar on the dividend growth outlook as the firm expands steadily to help expand the grid in a way that localities won’t need to be pressured when all these new data centres come online (the buildout could move ahead with blistering pace), I think shares of FTS are a terrific long-term bet, especially after the latest 9.2% drawdown, one which I view as completely unwarranted.
The latest second quarter may have lacked that table-pounding catalyst (I really don’t know what investors were expecting, but that’s the danger of buying bid-up names into a number), but, at the very least, it was as expected, with profits coming in within a percentage point of expectations. Now that the froth is taken off the top and expectations are more tempered, I think it might be time to get back in.
A fair price for quality
At 19.8 times forward price-to-earnings (P/E), with a 3.36% dividend yield and a 0.41 beta, you’re paying a fair price for peace of mind and a near-guarantee of annual dividend hikes over the foreseeable future and probably a bit beyond that. I get it. Fortis stock isn’t the dividend stock that gets people excited, but when the tides turn (and they might as September progresses), perhaps it’s best not to forget about the conservative side of the barbell portfolio.
