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Canadian National Railway Company

Company Profile
The Canadian National Railway Company or (CN) runs Canada’s biggest railway that connects customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The company operates across around 20,400 miles of track with 2019 marking the 100th year of the railway.

The Stock Symbol for Canadian National Railway Company is (NYSE:CNI).

The railway provides connectivity to a number of ports and span three coastlines. Within their network they utilise 23 terminals.

Canadian National Railways Operational Map

Dividend Yields Performance For Canadian National Railways

On trends you have to say this is a very consistent performance from Canadian National Railways. The yield hovers consistently at around 2%. You will see when set against a consistently rising stock price this is a very strong dividend yield performance. The company has maintained the yield threshold through consistent dividend growth.

10 Year Stock Price Movement For Canadian National Railways

10 Year Dividend Growth Chart For Canadian National Railways

Legal & General (L&G) Results and Dividend Review for 2019 Company Performance

Legal & General Group plc is a multinational financial services company. It’s products and services include investment management, lifetime mortgages, pensions, annuities and life insurance.

L&G announced a full year dividend of 17.57p per share, up 7% 16.42p per share in 2018.

The ex-dividend date is 23 April 2020 with a payment date of 4 June 2020.

Current dividend yield performance for Legal & General is 7.5% which compares favourably with the average performance for the FTSE 100 of 4.56% and the average performance for the sector of 4.27%.

The dividend yield for L&G for the last ten years has fallen from 7.15 in 2010 to 5.31%. (How does this 5.31% compare with the 7.5% current yield mentioned above?)

The price earnings ratio is 7.7 against a FTSE 100 of 23.54.

The share price fell from 262.3p on the day of the results to 224.90 on 9 March 2020.

WPP Results and Dividend Review for 2019 Company Performance

WPP is a multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology and commerce holding company.

WPP announced a dividend of 60.0p per share in 2019, consistent with the same period in 2018.

The ex-dividend date is 11 June 2020 with a payment date of 6 July 2020.

Current dividend yield performance for WPP is 8.0%, higher than both the FTSE 100 average of 3.82% and the industry average of 2.86%.

The dividend yield for WPP for the last ten years has increased from 3.63% to 7.58%.

The price earnings ratio is 8.7 against a FTSE 100 average of 27.

The share price fell slightly from 761.60 on 27 February 2020 to 755.0 on 3 March 2020.

Billings of £53,059m in 2019 remain similar to 2018 of £53,220m.

Headline EBITDA fell from £1,933m in 2018 to £1,830 in 2019.

BAE Systems Results and Dividend Review for 2019 Company Performance

With a global workforce of 87,800 people, BAE Systems provide some of the world’s most advanced, technology-led, aerospace and security solutions.

BAE Systems announced a dividend of 23.2p per share in 2019, slightly up on the figure from 2018 of 22.2p per share.

The ex-dividend date is 16 April 2020 with a payment date of 1 June 2020.

Current dividend yield performance for BAE Systems is 3.8%, similar to the FTSE 100 average of 3.82% but higher than the industry average of 2.18%.

The dividend yield for BAE Systems for the last ten years has fallen from 4.30% to 3.11%.

The price earnings ratio is 19.4 against a FTSE 100 average of 27.

The share price fell by 9% from 656.40 on 20 February 2020 to 597.20 on 6 March 2020.

Sales, as defined by the group, increased from £18,407m in 2018 to £20,109m in 2019.

Underlying EBITA increased from £1,928m in 2018 to £2,117m in 2019.

HSBC Holdings Results and Dividend Review for 2019 Company Performance

HSBC announced a dividend of US$0.51 per share in 2019, consistent with the same period in 2018.

The ex-dividend date is 27 February 2020 and a payment date of 14 April 2020.

Current dividend yield performance for HSBC is 7.09%. This compares favourably with the average performance for the sector of 4.38% and the average performance for the FTSE 100 of 3.82%.

The dividend yield for HSBC for the last ten years has steadily increased from 3.84% to more than 7%.

The price earnings ratio is 8.9 against a FTSE 100 average of 27.

The share price fell by 6.3% from 590.70 to 551.90 on the release of the results.

Recently announcing 35,000 job losses to help stem the flow of falling profits HSBC is responding robustly to increased competition on the global stage.

There is a lot of speculation about further impending changes at HSBC. Let’s wait and see what the interim chief executive, Noel Quinn is able to do in 2020.

Plus500, founded in 2008. is a regulated, licenced broker trading Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and is part of the FTSE 250 Index.

Plus500 announced a final dividend of $0.3767 per share for the year ended 31 December 2019. This compares to a final dividend in 2018 of $0.6191 per share.

The ex-dividend date is 27 February 2020 and a payment date of 13 July 2020.

Plus500 has a dividend policy to return at least 60% of net profits to shareholders.

Plus500 plans to conduct a further share buyback programme in 2020 to purchase up to $30 million of company shares.

The share price is currently trading at 902 from a high of 950 mid-January.

Current dividend yield performance for plus500 is 7.59%. This is more than double the average performance for the sector of 3.34% and average performance for the FTSE 250 of 3.50%.

Plus500’s dividend yield for the last seven years has been erratic but has had a trajectory upwards, with a starting point of 7.74%.

Plus500’s current price earning ratio is 3 against FTSE 250 average of 40, this may imply plus500 is currently undervalued by the market which suggests the share price may have some growth.

Plus500 is a CFD platform and offers CFD trading only and you have no ownership of the shares. If you hold a buy position you will receive the dividend as a positive adjustment to your account. However, if you hold a sell position there will be a negative adjustment. Attachment 1.0.

Glaxo announced a dividend of 80p per share against it results for 2019. That means Glaxo keeps  its dividend payment consistent with the full year 2018 payment of 80p. So overall if you’re looking for dividend payment growth, this is a static change.

The forward view for the dividend payment for 2020 stays at 80p.

The one thing you can say for Glaxo is they are consistent on dividend payments.

Glaxo’s dividend yield for the last ten years has hovered between 4.5% and 5.5%, this company is a dividend yield machine, it just keeps churning out investor return and performance.

Current dividend yield performance for Glaxo is 4.7%. This is against an average performance for the sector of 2.14% and average performance for the FTSE 100 of 3.82%. That is very good dividend yield performance indeed.

Glaxo’s current price earning ratio is 23 against FTSE 100 average of 27, this implies Glaxo is currently undervalued by the market which suggests the share price may have some growth.

The current share price is off the 52 week high by some 7.9%.

The share price dropped on the strength of these results from 1815 to 1700, some 6.3% drop.

Overall trading performance produced sales increase of 8% with 4% increase in profits.

Overall the business is a consistent performer, it is a mature profit machine that delivers what for some may be boring performance but for others is a trusted goto and safe haven.

One of the best ways to buy Shares is through a Stocks and Shares ISA

Using an individually invested Stocks ISA allows the investor to pick their own shares while gaining all the tax advantages of an ISA.

In 19/20 you are entitled to invest using a Shares ISA up to the value of £20,000. This allowance renews on 1st April each year.

Investing through a Shares ISA shelters the shareholding’s from both income tax on the dividend income and any capital gains tax on the profits made from the sales of the shares. This is a great mechanism to protect your investment returns from the tax man.

Here are some things to consider then using a Shares ISA

Some things to remember when using a Shares ISA

• Adding money over time to different Shares will reduce your investment risk, diversify your portfolio and allow you to get benefit from the investing consolidation effect
• If you don’t use an ISA allowance during a tax year you lose it
• Provider of Stocks ISA leverage different charges
• Share ISAs are transferable into Cash ISAs
• If you have a Shares ISA, check their charges, they could be overcharging you or charging too much to transfer to another provider
• Always use at least a five year investment horizon when buying your shares
• Consider the risks and reward of investing in shares against your appetite for risk

What sort of charges do providers leverage on Stocks and Shares ISAs

To give you an idea of how much you can expect to be charged, the annual fee currently (2020) charged by Hargreaves Lansdown is 0.45% for the first £250,000 invested, 0.25% for investments between £250,000 and £1m with 0.1% charge for investments in excess of £1m.

Also remember you will receive broker fees on all your share buys and sales.

Use my dividend yield analysis of the FTSE 100 and 250 to help you decide what shares to invest in.

All the best, .

How to Earn an Extra Pay Cheque Through Investing in Shares

What would it feel like to earn one extra pay cheque a year without having to go to work for it? Sounds pie in the sky?

I’m sure most of you know it’s possible and that it comes with some risks.

So let’s go through the broad strokes on how this can be achieved with dividend investing and let’s consider some of the risks and the opportunities.

First let’s start by considering what value an extra pay cheque is for the average Brit. Average annual UK salaries are £28.7k, with a monthly pay cheque coming in at £2.7k before tax. After tax that would be roughly £1.7k net.

With a dividend investing strategy you can keep all that £2.7k using a stocks and shares ISA mitigating both income tax and capital gains tax. Read more about using stocks and shares ISAs here.

So now we know what value we’re aiming for, how to go about getting there and how long does it take?

The average dividend yield at the moment across the FTSE 100 is 3.69% in a rising market. In order to achieve that extra pay cheque you will need capital to invest of £72k. It’s important to remember this is the average dividend income return that can be achieved.

If you are to use the stocks and shares ISA route, which allows for £20k of investment through the tax year, you’d be looking at 3 years to get to the threshold necessary. Alternatively, if you were to invest the £72k without a shares ISA, you’d be looking at around eighteen months given the share dividend payout timings before you realised the full yield on your investment.

Now we know how much capital we need, what about share selection?

Well I can’t tell you specifically what shares to buy because that depends on your risk appetite and I’m not here to give you specific share investment advice. What I can show you is some really insightful information to help you with your share buying research.

With regard to the forward view for dividend performance of the FTSE 100 in 2020, below is where some of the top city analysts believe this year will go. The data is based on a mixture of 2019 and 2020 actual data and forecasts.

Source: AJ Bell

Source: AJ Bell

What about the risks?

• Your capital is very much at risk of reducing. If you invest unwisely or there is an exceptional event such as war or recession, the stock market will almost certainly fall taking your invested money down in value
• You may need your capital back sooner than expected potentially risking the full growth potential of your investments
• You don’t spread your investments properly and get caught in downward pressure on narrow investment choices

What about the opportunities?

• You invest wisely and double bubble your returns, not only do you get dividend income but your shares rise in value increasing the value of your capital and increase the overall investment return
• Some of your shareholdings experience takeovers and mergers giving you additional share holdings and bonus share issues
• You top slice your investment returns and increase your overall invested capital through smart portfolio management

You can also use my FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 dividend yield analysis to help inform your decisions.

All the best,