Take 2024, for example. Our A team of the 10 top Dividend All-Stars collectively posted an equal-weighted total return of 32.49% for the year to November 30, our cutoff date. That trounced the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite’s 26.75% return for the same period.
Ironically, the best performer of the bunch was First Quantum Minerals, which didn’t end up paying any dividends over the year. Faced with the closure of its Cobre Panama mine in a political dispute, the company discontinued its dividend altogether. But it still performed on the price front, rising 72.19% over the year as its future became clearer. We’ll take the win.
Other standouts from our ’24 A list included two more mining companies, Agnico Eagle Mines and Lundin Mining, and insurer iA Financial Corp. All posted total returns of 50% or more. Only one of our picks, Enghouse Systems, suffered a loss on the year once dividends were taken into account.
As is to be expected, the B list didn’t do quite as well as the A team, but in the 12 months to November 30, 2024, its total return still topped 20%. The standout was large-cap Manulife Financial with a 75.47% return, with West Fraser Timber Co. coming in a distant second. Two of our B-team members posted low single-digit negative total returns over the period, Cenovus Energy and Richelieu Hardware.
Together, the A and B teams recorded an equal-weighted total return of 26.42% which, as it happened, almost exactly matched the S&P/TSX Composite return for the period—arguably with lower risk. The more comparable S&P/TSX Composite Dividend Index, which only includes dividend payers, returned 24.4%.
“Commodity stocks got a tailwind this year with strong metals prices. They generated excess cash and turned that around with higher dividend payouts,” says Aman Raina of Sage Investors, who compiled both last year’s and this year’s lists. “The higher prices fed into higher profits and contributed to higher capital gains.” He expects the same fundamental factors to drive our picks’ performance in 2025.
How to use the charts: To view the tables in their entirety, slide the columns right or left using your fingers or mouse.
| 2024 ranking | Ticker | Stock name | Trailing dividend yield (Nov. 29, 2024) | 12-month price return (Nov.30, 2023 to Nov. 29, 2024) | Total return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LIF-T | Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. | 8.59% | -5.66% | 2.93% |
| 2 | AEM-T | Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. | 2.20% | 62.06% | 64.26% |
| 3 | ERF-T | Enerplus Corp. | 1.44% | 18.42% | 19.86% |
| 4 | IMO-T | Imperial Oil | 2.30% | 35.63% | 37.93% |
| 5 | AGI-T | Alamos Gold Inc. Class A | 0.67% | 32.32% | 32.99% |
| 6 | IAG-T | IA Financial Corp. Inc. | 3.97% | 47.70% | 51.67% |
| 7 | LUN-T | Lundin Mining Corp. | 3.83% | 46.17% | 50.00% |
| 8 | ABX-T | Barrick Gold Corp. | 1.68% | 2.85% | 4.53% |
| 9 | FM-T | First Quantum Minerals Ltd. | 0.00% | 72.19% | 72.19% |
| 10 | ENGH-T | Enghouse Systems Ltd. | 2.93% | -14.41% | -11.47% |
| Group A average | 32.49% |
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