You can count on them for dividend growth

Article Excerpt

Canada’s top banks remain key investments for dividend-seeking investors. That’s despite the possibility of lower interest rates and slower housing markets. Both of those would raise risk levels for banks. Here are two industry leaders that have just recently increased their dividend payments to investors. We see those increases continuing. ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, $106, is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol RY; Income-Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $148.4 billion; Dividend yield: 4.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.rbc.com) is Canada’s largest bank with assets of $1.41 trillion. Canada accounts for 66% of its revenue, followed by the U.S. (21%) and other countries (13%). Starting with the November 2019 payment, the bank will raise its quarterly dividend by 2.9%, to $1.05 a share from $1.02. The $4.20 annual rate yields a high 4.0%. In its fiscal 2019 third quarter, ended July 31, 2019, Royal earned $3.26 billion in the quarter. That’s up 5.0% from $3.11 billion a year earlier. Due to fewer shares…