What are we looking for?
Sustainable dividends from European Union and U.K. exporters likely to benefit from new deals set to normalize, if not optimize, trade with the United States.
The screen
Many European stocks have already climbed higher on news the Trump administration will lower proposed tariffs on EU imports to 15 per cent from the punishing 30 per cent promised earlier this year. In June, U.K. exporters saw their baseline U.S. tariff slashed to 10 per cent. While both tariff rates are still relatively high, the reductions, and the certainty they create, should normalize trade travelling across the pond.
That benefits Canadian investors who opt to hold U.K. and European stocks. At The Successful Investor, we see American Depository Receipts (ADRs), traded on the New York Stock Exchange, as the best way of holding those companies with primary listings on U.K. and European exchanges.
For this search, we start with a list of profitable U.K. and European exporters with strong prospects for sales and earnings growth. From there, we whittle the list down to dividend-payers before applying our TSI Dividend Sustainability Rating System. It awards points to a stock based on key factors:
- One point for five years of continuous dividend payments. Two points for more than five;
- two points if it has raised the payment in the past five years;
- one point for management’s commitment to dividends;
- one point for operating in noncyclical industries;
- one point for limited exposure to foreign currency rates and freedom from political interference;
- two points for a strong balance sheet, including manageable debt and adequate cash;
- two points for a long-term record of positive earnings and cash flow sufficient to cover dividend payments;
- one point for an industry leader.
Companies with 10 to 12 points have the most secure dividends, or the highest sustainability. Those with seven to nine points have above-average sustainability; average sustainability, four to six points; and below-average sustainability, one to three points.
More about TSI Network
TSI Network is the online home of The Successful Investor Inc. – the group of widely followed Canadian investment newsletters by editor and publisher Pat McKeough. They include our award-winning flagship newsletter, The Successful Investor, and the TSI Dividend Advisor. TSI Network is also affiliated with Successful Investor Wealth Management.
What we found
Our TSI Dividend Sustainability Rating System generated a list of seven U.K and European ADRs ready to move even higher, while growing their dividends.
SAP SE (SAP-N), headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, sells and supports a range of enterprise software products for corporations, government agencies and educational institutions worldwide.
Switzerland’s Nestle SA (NSRGY) is one of the world’s largest food companies, marketing a wide variety of consumer and pet-care brands.
Based in Cambridge, England, AstraZeneca PLC (AZN-Q) is Britain’s largest-listed company by market value. The firm discovers, develops and markets an array of prescription drugs.
Novartis AG (NVS-N), headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is another leading global drug maker.
Leiden, Netherlands-headquartered Airbus SE (EADSY) designs and makes commercial aircraft, helicopters, military transports, satellites and more.
BASF AG BASFY, based in Ludwigshafen, Germany, operates as a chemical company worldwide.
And finally, based in Munich, Germany, Knorr-Bremse AG KNRRY is a global leader in rail and commercial vehicle braking systems.
We advise investors to do additional research on investments we identify here.
Scott Clayton, MBA, is senior analyst for TSI Network and associate editor of TSI Dividend Advisor.