10 Best Canadian Dividend Stocks To Buy and Hold

Investing in any of the 10 best Canadian dividend stocks to buy and hold is the perfect way to gain exposure to the Canadian market and the country’s bountiful natural resources, which many Canadian stocks owe thanks to.

Canada has its own robust stock market, the Toronto Stock Exchange, which has over 3,000 companies listed on it, making it one of the most populated exchanges in the world. Canada also ranks fifth overall in terms of listed companies by country, trailing only India, the U.S, Japan, and Spain.

Nonetheless, many of the largest Canadian companies are listed on both the TSX and U.S exchanges, so as to reach a larger pool of investors. Some Canadian companies eschew the TSX entirely and are listed solely on U.S exchanges, so it’s quite easy for Americans to invest in the Canadian market. There are 176 Canadian companies listed in the U.S according to Nasdaq.com, with precious metals and energy companies accounting for a disproportionate amount of those stocks.

Given the propensity with which mining and energy companies pay dividends, Canadian stocks are fertile ground for income investors looking for new income streams, allowing them to diversify their portfolios geographically in the process. To help investors in their search, we have scoured through every Canadian stock trading in the U.S which pays a dividend and ranked them based on the ownership of those stocks among the collection of world-class hedge funds in our database (the stock with the higher dividend yield is ranked higher in the event of a tie).

That’s what we do at Insider Monkey and our flagship strategy has returned 44.2% since February 2016 vs. a 29.6% gain for the S&P 500 index ETF (SPY). Our most recent stock picks, which were disclosed to our subscribers in the middle of February, beat the market by 5 percentage points in the three months that followed and our latest picks were released in the middle of May. Our system is easy for investors to implement, with just a small batch of trades to be executed once per quarter.

For an even more comprehensive list of potential dividend stocks to add to your portfolio, check out our list of the 76 best insurance dividend stocks to invest in. Now then, head to the next page to begin the countdown of the 10 best Canadian dividend stocks to buy and hold.

  1. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (USA) (NYSE:AEM)

– Owned by 23 Hedge Funds

– 0.85% Dividend Yield

First up is Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (USA) (NYSE:AEM), which 23 hedge funds in our system owned on March 31. Agnico turned in another strong performance in the second-quarter, beating top- and bottom-line estimates. The company, which operates gold mines in Canada, Finland, and Mexico, also raised its FY 2017 gold production guidance by 3% to 1.62 million ounces. Agnico hiked its dividend by 35% earlier this year, giving it a forward yield of 0.85%.

bank, banking, gold, market, standard, isolated, worth, wealthy, economy, bullion, fortune, carat, bar, reserve, precious, business, symbol, ingot, value, wealth, luxury, finance, 24-carat, treasure, fed, dollar, treasury, banknote, jackson, economic, greed, trust, money, federal, face, currency, growth, rich, recession, nugget, mortgage, background, investment, note, financial, crisis, savings, metal, capital

claffra/Shutterstock.com

Follow Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (NYSE:AEM)

  1. Magna International Inc. (USA) (NYSE:MGA)

– Owned by 23 Hedge Funds

– 2.31% Dividend Yield

Auto parts supplier Magna International Inc. (USA) (NYSE:MGA) is next, being owned by 23 hedge funds at the end of March. The company was recently upgraded to ‘Top Pick’ status by Cormark, which likes the company’s strong earnings growth. The firm has a $59 price target on the stock, which is more than 20% greater than its current price. Magna earned $1.53 per share in the first-quarter, beating estimates by $0.19.

Follow Magna International Inc (NYSE:MGA)

  1. Enbridge Inc (USA) (NYSE:ENB)

– Owned by 23 Hedge Funds

– 4.32% Dividend Yield

Energy generation and distribution company Enbridge Inc (USA) (NYSE:ENB) was also owned by 23 hedge funds on March 31. The stock sports the highest dividend yield among those featured in this article, with it having been raised by over 50% over the past five years while its stock has actually dipped slightly. Despite shares being stuck in neutral, several analysts still don’t see much upside at their current valuation. Nonetheless, the stock’s forward yield should certainly make it attractive to income investors.

KRITSANA NOISAKUL/Shutterstock.com

KRITSANA NOISAKUL/Shutterstock.com

Follow Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB)

  1. Encana Corp (USA) (NYSE:ECA)

– Owned by 24 Hedge Funds

– 0.60% Dividend Yield

Natural gas producer Encana Corp (USA) (NYSE:ECA) ranks seventh on the list of the 10 best Canadian dividend stocks to buy and hold. While the stock’s forward yield is a rather paltry 0.60%, there is alot of potential upside with this stock. Raymond James has an ‘Outperform’ rating on it and likes the company’s more focused portfolio of assets. In that vein, Encana sold off its assets in Colorado for $735 million in June, which included 3,100 natural gas wells and 550,000 acres of land, as it continues to narrow its focus to four key plays: the Permian and Eagle Ford in Texas, and the Montney and Duverney in B.C.

Countries with Highest Natural Gas Reserves

vovan/Shutterstock.com

Follow Encana Corp (NYSE:ECA)

  1. Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG)

– Owned by 24 Hedge Funds

– 0.61% Dividend Yield

Another Canadian gold mining company, Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG) is also popular among the hedge funds that we track, with 24 of them long the stock. After surging in February thanks to rising gold prices, Goldcorp has slumped heavily to trade down by 2.39% year-to-date. Goldcorp has sold off a number of assets recently, including its interests in the Cerro Casale and Cerro Blanco projects, as it looks to divest non-core assets and streamline its operations.

Pushish Images/Shutterstock.com

Pushish Images/Shutterstock.com

Follow Goldcorp Inc New (NYSE:GG)

  1. Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP)

– Owned by 27 Hedge Funds

– 1.13% Dividend Yield

Incorporated in 1881, Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP) operates freight train service throughout much of Canada and parts of the U.S. A stock favored by several of the billionaire investors in our database, CP is coming off an impressive second-quarter in which it blew away expectations with CAD2.77 ($2.22) per share in earnings. That prompted several analysts to raise their price targets on the stock, including Wells Fargo’s Matthew Troy, who is impressed with CP management’s ability to drive top-line growth.

Follow Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (NYSE:CP)

  1. Barrick Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:ABX)

– Owned by 36 Hedge Funds

– 0.70% Dividend Yield

Barrick Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:ABX) is one of the most popular gold mining companies in the world among the successful investors that we track, being owned by 36 of them on March 31. Barrick Gold has been caught up in the dispute between Acacia Mining (in which it owns a 63.9% stake) and the Tanzania government, which has banned mineral concentrate exports. Due to the uncertainty surrounding that situation, BMO Capital recently downgraded Barrick Gold to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ and lowered its price target on the stock to $18 from $21.

Fer Gregory/Shutterstock.com

Fer Gregory/Shutterstock.com

Follow Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

  1. Teck Resources Ltd (USA) (NYSE:TECK)

– Owned by 36 Hedge Funds

– 0.74% Dividend Yield

Teck Resources Ltd (USA) (NYSE:TECK) is another popular Canadian mining company, one which focuses on lead, as well as specialty metals like germanium, indium and cadmium. After slashing its dividend from $0.45 to just $0.05 between December 2014 and December 2015, Teck hiked its dividend for the first time in a year-and-a-half in June, doubling its payout to $0.10. Teck shares have surged by 50% in the past five weeks despite concerns that global metallurgical prices are poised for a decline.

Kzenon/Shutterstock.com

Kzenon/Shutterstock.com

Follow Teck Resources Ltd (NYSE:TCK)

  1. Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR)

– Owned by 38 Hedge Funds

– 1.28% Dividend Yield

The owner of Tim Hortons, Popeyes Louisiana Chicken and Burger King, Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR) ranks second on our list, with 38 hedge funds long the stock, including notable bull Bill Ackman of Pershing Square, whose 13F portfolio had 36.61% exposure to the stock on March 31. Unlike Ackman’s other big Canadian investment (Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), which he sold off during Q1), Restaurant Brands has been a big success for the billionaire investor, with gains of 25% this year and nearly 100% since the beginning of 2016. That spurred him to sell 10 million shares of the stock recently, for the purposes of portfolio rebalancing. Analysts are extremely bullish on Restaurant Brands despite the recent run of exceptional performance, citing its long-term unit growth potential.

Niloo/Shutterstock.com

Niloo/Shutterstock.com

Follow Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR)

  1. Molson Coors Brewing Co (NYSE:TAP)

– Owned by 45 Hedge Funds

– 1.85% Dividend Yield

The third-largest beer maker in the world, Molson Coors Brewing Co (NYSE:TAP) tops the list of the 10 best Canadian dividend stocks to buy and hold. The company has paid out a $0.41 quarterly dividend for the past two-and-a-half years and said it was committed to maintaining that dividend during its investor day in June. However, its EBITDA margin guidance during that event disappointed the market, as it anticipates the metric rising by 50-60 basis points per year for the next three-to-four years.

toronto, ontario, canadian, molson-coors, business, brewery, canada, brew, mississauga, building, molson, beer, coors, industry, ale

Atomazul / Shutterstock.com

Follow Molson Coors Beverage Co (NYSE:TAP)

Disclosure: None