Why Transcontinental Inc. (TSE:TCL.A) Should Be In Your Portfolio

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Over the past 10 years Transcontinental Inc. (TSE:TCL.A) has been paying dividends to shareholders. The company currently pays out a dividend yield of 4.0% to shareholders, making it a relatively attractive dividend stock. Does Transcontinental tick all the boxes of a great dividend stock? Below, I'll take you through my analysis.

Check out our latest analysis for Transcontinental

5 checks you should use to assess a dividend stock

Whenever I am looking at a potential dividend stock investment, I always check these five metrics:

• Is their annual yield among the top 25% of dividend payers?
• Has it consistently paid a stable dividend without missing a payment or drastically cutting payout?
• Has it increased its dividend per share amount over the past?
• Is is able to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?
• Will it have the ability to keep paying its dividends going forward?

How does Transcontinental fare?

The company currently pays out 32% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. In the near future, analysts are predicting a payout ratio of 32% which, assuming the share price stays the same, leads to a dividend yield of 4.2%. Furthermore, EPS is forecasted to fall to CA$2.19 in the upcoming year.

When assessing the forecast sustainability of a dividend it is also worth considering the cash flow of the business. Cash flow is important because companies with strong cash flow can usually sustain higher payout ratios.

If there's one type of stock you want to be reliable, it's dividend stocks and their stable income-generating ability. TCL.A has increased its DPS from CA$0.32 to CA$0.84 in the past 10 years. It has also been paying out dividend consistently during this time, as you'd expect for a company increasing its dividend levels. These are all positive signs of a great, reliable dividend stock.

Relative to peers, Transcontinental generates a yield of 4.0%, which is high for Commercial Services stocks but still below the market's top dividend payers.

Next Steps:

Considering the dividend attributes we analyzed above, Transcontinental is definitely worth keeping an eye on for someone looking to build a dedicated income portfolio. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I urge potential investors to try and get a good understanding of the underlying business and its fundamentals before deciding on an investment. I've put together three key aspects you should look at:

1. Valuation: What is TCL.A worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it's not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether TCL.A is currently mispriced by the market.
2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Transcontinental’s board and the CEO’s back ground.
3. Other Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.

Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.