TD Branch bank with solar panels in Mississauga, Ont.
With global equities off to an ugly start in 2016 amid increased volatility and concerns over global growth, investors are likely to focus increasingly on stable businesses with predictable growth, according to the research team at Desjardins Securities.
In a note released Monday, Desjardins said a key investment driver during this turbulence will be dividend growth. To spur some ideas, it released its picks for top Canadian dividend growth stocks for 2016.
"While dividend growth has long been a key to long-term shareholder value creation, it also represents a very positive near-term value creator," the analysts said. "For obvious reasons, a board that is confident in increasing its dividend is, de facto, confident in its management team's ability to drive near-term earnings growth. Companies that can consistently grow their dividends typically offer high visibility and high predictability in cash flows, as well as more comfort in medium- and longer-term prospects. Dividends also act as an important governor of corporate strategy and help ensure management is consistently addressing operational efficiency. A strongly growing dividend will also offset the impacts of potentially rising interest rates."
Here are the team's top picks for 2016:
David Leeder