TSX60 Ex Dividend Date + Best 2014 Dividend Stocks Update

Before we go with the TSX60 Ex Dividend Date; I wanted to tell you that I was interviewed by Mint! you can read the article here.

 

I started this “tradition” on my blog in 2012. The goal is to pick 20 US and 10 CDN dividend stocks that I think will outperform their peers. This is the reason why I use VIG and XDV as my benchmarks. I keep track of my results for accountability purposes as I find that too many analysts and blogs just drop the ball on their picks when they are not that great. By posting monthly results, I have no other choice but to face my performance and explain it. You can look at my previous picks and returns:

 

Best Dividend Stock Picks 2012 (-1.47% vs VIG (US dividend ETF), + 8.32% vs XDV (CDN dividend ETF)

Best Dividend Stock Picks 2013 (+11.07% vs VIG, + 0.77% vs XDV)

My 2014 Best Dividend Stock Pick is for sale on Amazon.

 

Top US Dividend Picks 4.46% (vs VIG at 3.93%)

The recent financial results hurt the US market in July & August and my portfolio was no exception. While I’m still beating my benchmark by 0.53% and its dividend yield by 1.12%, it’s not much compared to the S&P 500 with a ytd return of 8.08%. This is why you have to pick dividend investing for the long run and not for the short term.

Poor results from Aflac (AFL), McDonald’s (MCD), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Mattel (MAT) pushed these stocks lower. I can understand the impatience aimed at MCD as it has struggled to post growth for about two years now.  Exxon Mobil ran into expenses and Mattel seems to have lost its touch for great toys. Aflac is still struggling with a strong US dollar as most of their business is coming from Japan.

On the other hand, PepsiCo (PEP), Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Apple (AAPL) are driving my portfolio higher with better than expected earnings. Of these three companies, I own positions in two personally (LMT and AAPL), you can tell I’m smiling right now. Apple is probably is a good buy right now since it has dropped by over 3% last week due to all those celebs pics stolen from iCloud. Between you and me, do you think your Google Drive is safer than your iCloud?

Top Canadian Dividend Stocks + 5.28% (vs XDV at 8.88%)

Right now, I’m seriously lagging behind my benchmark and the reason why is obvious; I hold too many losers in my portfolio. Black Diamond (BDI) which was one of my top performers recently dropped 13.24% in July. Results were only going to be live on August 12^th after the market, why has the stock plummeted in July? Call it bipolarity! This should make a good entry point for this company now paying a 3.25% dividend yield (monthly!). The stock didn’t move much after record second quarter and a dividend increase. The P/E ratio is now back to a more “normal” situation under 24. This is definitely a good buy occasion.

Telecoms were hit by the obvious; the Gov’t doesn’t want them to play alone in the mobile industry. This is why Telus (T) dropped by almost 2% in July and Rogers (RCI.B) kept dragging by another 3%.

Finally, Lassonde (LAS.A) took BDI’s place in the big portfolio winners with the recent purchase of the American Apple & Eve. The stock surged by 24% in July, helping my stocks to be close to the benchmark. A 2% difference with ten stocks can easily be caught back up with a good third quarter.

The other problem I see with my benchmark is that 54% of their holdings are in Bank. Since they did well so far and I hold only 20% among my 10 picks, it is very hard to compete this year. Still, I hold too many losers and this is the main reason I’m lagging behind…

 

S&P TSX 60 DIVIDEND YIELD AND EX DIVIDEND DATE

Ticker	Name	Price	Dividend Yield	Payout Ratio	Ex-Dvd
PWT	Penn West Petroleum Ltd	8.3	6.75	N/A	9/24/2014
CPG	Crescent Point Energy Corp	44.55	6.2	746.54	9/26/2014
COS	Canadian Oil Sands Ltd	22.8	6.14	81.29	11/21/2014
TA	TransAlta Corp	12.37	5.82	N/A	11/28/2014
BCE	BCE Inc	49.19	5.02	91.52	09/11/2014
ERF	Enerplus Corp	23.91	4.52	452.03	09/03/2014
RCI/B	Rogers Communications Inc	44.37	4.12	53.69	09/10/2014
SJR/B	Shaw Communications Inc	27.58	3.99	61.58	09/11/2014
POT	Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc	38.2	3.9	64.42	10/14/2014
ARX	ARC Resources Ltd	30.73	3.9	155.38	9/26/2014
CM	Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce/Canada	104.77	3.82	44.49	9/25/2014
T	TELUS Corp	39.92	3.81	67.26	09/08/2014
FTS	Fortis Inc/Canada	33.58	3.81	78.38	10/22/2014
RY	Royal Bank of Canada	81.14	3.7	45.2	10/23/2014
BMO	Bank of Montreal	84.62	3.69	46.86	10/30/2014
TCK/B	Teck Resources Ltd	24.46	3.68	53.9	12/10/2014
HSE	Husky Energy Inc	32.83	3.66	64.96	11/25/2014
NA	National Bank of Canada	52.53	3.66	38.36	9/23/2014
BNS	Bank of Nova Scotia/The	72.27	3.65	46.06	10/03/2014
POW	Power Corp of Canada	32	3.63	54.63	09/05/2014
SLF	Sun Life Financial Inc	40.89	3.52	50.86	11/24/2014
TRI	Thomson Reuters Corp	41.44	3.49	848.03	11/21/2014
PPL	Pembina Pipeline Corp	51.46	3.38	147.35	9/24/2014
TD	Toronto-Dominion Bank/The	57.3	3.28	46.72	10/01/2014
TRP	TransCanada Corp	59.14	3.25	75.99	9/26/2014
AGU	Agrium Inc	103.12	3.17	34.01	9/26/2014
CVE	Cenovus Energy Inc	34.08	3.12	110.57	09/11/2014
MFC	Manulife Financial Corp	22.17	2.8	31.96	11/14/2014
BBD/B	Bombardier Inc	3.65	2.74	32.52	09/10/2014
TLM	Talisman Energy Inc	10.86	2.71	N/A	09/11/2014
SU	Suncor Energy Inc	43.67	2.56	28.02	11/27/2014
ENB	Enbridge Inc	54.95	2.55	236.15	11/12/2014
G	Goldcorp Inc	29.24	2.25	N/A	9/16/2014
CNQ	Canadian Natural Resources Ltd	46.17	1.95	27.58	09/10/2014
WN	George Weston Ltd	86.47	1.94	36.25	09/11/2014
CCO	Cameco Corp	21.03	1.9	49.66	9/26/2014
YRI	Yamana Gold Inc	9	1.82	N/A	9/26/2014
L	Loblaw Cos Ltd	54.5	1.8	41.94	09/11/2014
CTC/A	Canadian Tire Corp Ltd	112.74	1.77	21.38	10/29/2014
SNC	SNC-Lavalin Group Inc	55.89	1.72	389.78	11/14/2014
MRU	Metro Inc	70.67	1.7	12.94	10/29/2014
SAP	Saputo Inc	65.52	1.59	32.89	12/04/2014
THI	Tim Hortons Inc	89.22	1.43	36.8	11/28/2014
MG	Magna International Inc	123.36	1.34	18.19	11/26/2014
BAM/A	Brookfield Asset Management Inc	52.25	1.33	18.41	11/26/2014
CNR	Canadian National Railway Co	79.1	1.26	27.72	09/05/2014
ECA	Encana Corp	24.75	1.23	209.32	09/11/2014
ABX	Barrick Gold Corp	19.52	1.12	N/A	11/26/2014
SLW	Silver Wheaton Corp	26.65	0.99	42.61	11/19/2014
IMO	Imperial Oil Ltd	56.78	0.92	14.67	11/26/2014
AEM	Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd	40.3	0.86	N/A	11/28/2014
GIL	Gildan Activewear Inc	61.7	0.77	13.66	12/09/2014
CP	Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd	222.88	0.63	28.11	9/24/2014
FM	First Quantum Minerals Ltd	24.04	0.42	21.13	4/15/2015
ELD	Eldorado Gold Corp	8.63	0.23	N/A	02/04/2015
VRX	Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc	131.2	0	0	N/A
K	Kinross Gold Corp	4.22	0	0	9/17/2014
BB	BlackBerry Ltd	11.42	0	0	N/A
CCT	Catamaran Corp	51.87	0	0	N/A
GIB/A	CGI Group Inc	39.22	0	0	N/A

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