New businesses will support higher dividends: Great-West Lifeco and Intact Financial

Article Excerpt

Both of these insurers are positioned to raise their dividends in 2021 as they reap the benefits of recent acquisitions. Still, we see Intact as your best option for new buying. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $30 is a hold. The company (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 927.9 million; Market cap: $27.8 billion; Dividend yield: 5.8%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest life insurer, after Manulife Financial. It also offers mutual funds and wealth management services. Power Corp. (Toronto symbol POW) owns 66.9% of the firm. Starting with the March 2020 payment, the insurer raised its quarterly dividend for investors by 6.1%, to $0.438 a share from $0.413. The new annual rate of $1.75 yields a high 5.8%. In the third quarter of 2020, Great-West’s revenue declined 4.9%, to $13.7 billion from $14.4 billion a year earlier. The decrease was due to lower premiums in Canada and Europe, which offset strong results in the U.S. Earnings, excluding one-time items, were $679…