New businesses already paying off

Article Excerpt

INTACT FINANCIAL CORP. $128 is a buy. The insurer (Toronto symbol IFC; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 143.0 million; Market cap: $18.3 billion; Dividend yield: 2.6%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.intactfc.com) last raised your quarterly dividend with the March 2020 payment. Investors now receive $0.83 a share, up 9.6% from $0.76. The new annual rate of $3.32 yields 2.6%. Intact recently acquired two specialty insurance firms—The Guarantee Co. of North America and Frank Cowan Co. Ltd.—for a total of $1.02 billion. Expanding by acquisition adds risk, but specialty insurance policies generally carry higher premiums. That’s partly reflected in the quarter ended March 31, 2020: Intact’s net operating income (excluding unusual items) jumped 120.5%, to $1.61 a share from $0.73 a year earlier. earlier…