Canadian Dividend Companies Chartbook

Monitor TSX Dividends and Earnings Per Share

The Canadian Dividend Chartbook was created specifically to assist investors who are interested in monitoring stocks on the TSX considering Dividends and Earnings Per Share. There are about 600 charts in the book and all of them are for companies that pay dividends. This constitutes nearly all domestic trading instruments on the TSX that pay dividends. In addition to dividend information, EPS data is provided when available.

The book is separated into 3 sections. The first covers the primary equities and includes just over 200 companies. The second section contains preferreds and the final section includes unit trusts which often pay higher yields corresponding to higher risk levels. The layout of the book is such that the user can quickly page through the charts viewing bar charts for each company, not only to determine the recent dividend yield, dividend, and EPS but also to see the trend. A 3 year weekly chart is also included so that one can see the chart trend and the relationship of the price of the company to the dividend yield and the earnings per share. For example, if an instrument’s yield has gone up dramatically over the last year as can be seen on the bar chart, one can quickly determine if it is because the absolute dividend has increased or because the price has been declining. Another feature is the scaling of the dividend yield at the bottom of the chart. The dividend yield bar chart is displayed in 3 possible shades depending on the range of the dividend yield over the charting period. If the yield did not exceed 5% then the bars are in light grey. If the yield exceeded 5% but was less than 15% then the bars are medium grey. Finally if the yield exceeded 15% the bars are in black. This allows users to compare yields for charts on the same scale yet quickly identify by the bar colors what scale is being used for the dividend yield bar chart.

The dividend investor will find this book a tool with unmatched features by any software or other chartbooks.

REFERENCE GUIDE FOR THE CANADIAN DIVIDEND COMPANY CHARTBOOK

A) COMPANY NAME - indicates the common name.

B) COMPANY SYMBOL - up to 5 characters.

C) DETAILED SECTOR DESCRIPTION - indicates our most recently recorded description of the companies main activities.

D) PHONE NUMBER

E) WEEKLY SHARE PRICE - Each vertical line indicates the share price range for the week. The short, horizontal bar indicates the week’s closing price. These prices are adjusted to reflect any stock splits, and are plotted on a semi-logarithmic scale. U.S. companies (“.U” in the symbol) are quoted in U.S. funds. The alternative scaling method is arithmetic. Arithmetic scaling gives constant scale increments. For example, a $.10 change in share price will be the same distance vertically on the chart regardless of whether the $.10 change is at the top or the bottom of the chart. Semi-log scaling, used in the ISC chartbook charts, reflects the percentage change in stock price regardless of where it is measured. For example, a 1/4 inch price range at the bottom of a chart might represent a price change of 10%. Therefore a 1/4 inch price change at the top of the chart would also represent a 10% change in price. Semi-log scaling is used so that investors can visually determine the varying rates of percentage change in the security’s price.

F) 40 WEEK MOVING AVERAGE PRICE LINE - Calculated as the average of the previous 40 weeks’ closing prices, this figure is then plotted as a coarse dotted line. It serves to indicate direction of the underlying longer-term trend. The purpose of the moving average is to produce a line that reduces the effect of short term fluctuations so that the longer term trend is clearer. Often investors use the 40 week moving average in conjuction with the 10 week moving average to note crossovers or parallel movement - to confirm trends or show divergences.

G) 10 WEEK MOVING AVERAGE PRICE LINE - Calculated as the average of the previous 10 weeks’ closing prices, this is plotted as a fine dotted line. The 10 week moving average price line serves to smooth out the short-term price fluctuations and provides an indication of the trend.

H) WEEKLY SHARE VOLUME - Each vertical line represents the number of shares traded that week, plotted on an arithmetic scale.

I) EARNINGS PER SHARE BARS - These bars display the 12 month trailing earnings per share reported during the specific month on the chart. The numbers on the bottom of the bars are the EPS figures at the end of the quarter under which they are shown on the chart. The EPS figures are to help the users see if there has been any significant trend change in the earnings.

J) DIVIDEND BARS - A dividend is an amount distributed out of a company’s profits in proportion to the number of shares a shareholder has. A preferred dividend usually is for a fixed amount, while a common dividend may fluctuate with the profits of the company. A company is under no legal obligation to pay either preferred or common dividends. The dividend bars display the Indicated Dividend Rate per share. Unlike the dividend yield, this is not a percentage but by observing the changes in this bar chart one can see exactly when changes in absolute dividend payouts occur. If one only views changes in the dividend yield bar chart one cannot actually tell if the yield change is due to a change in the price or the absolute dividend so having the absolute figure can be very helpful.

K) DIVIDEND YIELD BARS - The dividend yield is the indicated annual dividend as a percentage of the current market price of the stock. The dividend bars show changes in the dividend yield over a 3 year period. The yield will change depending on the dividend or price of the security. There are 3 scales used for the dividend yield bars. If the dividend yield range over the charting period is 0 to 5% then the bars are displayed in light grey. From 5% to 15% they are in medium grey and from 15% to 50% they are in black. Normally you will only see the yield in black bars in rare situations with unit trusts since they can be associated with more risk.

L) LAST P/E RATIO - A common stock’s last closing market price per share divided by the latest reported 12-month earnings per share is the P/E ratio. You can calculate the P/E ratio on the charts by looking at the EPS bar graph and dividing the value under it into the price of the stock as shown on the chart above it.

M) LAST DIVIDEND YIELD - This value equates to the last bar on the dividend yield bar chart.

N) LAST PRICE - This is the last trading price on the chart and the date. This figure is used when calculating the P/E ratio and the dividend yield.

O) DIVIDEND PAYMENT PERIOD - This is the Dividend Timing Indicator. It occurs as four possibilities which are monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and annually.

P) FISCAL YEAR END - Each company has a fiscal year end at which time they report their financials.

Q) LISTING DATE - The day on which the company was listed on the TSX.

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