Heading into mid-August, my focus switches to the top insurance companies in Canada.
With Manulife Financial I'm going against the grain with the preferred investing method of weighting a stock to about 5% in a portfolio. In the financial sector of my portfolio I'm at 20% for MFC and the company had a decent 2nd quarter report with a dividend increase of 10% back in February of 2026.
Dan over on Stocktrades has interesting videos on his ranking of Canadian companies and bank sectors I'm more invested in than others. I viewed his ranking of Pipeline companies and agree with his top pick I own.
His recent video ranks Canadian Insurance companies. Of those companies reviewed, I own Great-West Life, Sun Life and Manulife Financial with an ex-dividend date of August 21st.
Looking at price growth over the last year, MFC with 49%, GWO with 73% and SLF with 47%. I'm pleased with the performance for those growth stocks along with the dividends they pay out to share holders for total return. The current bull run contributes I figure and I don't expect the same results when and if a major correction happens within the next year or not but it's always wise to prepare for the worst. They are my long term holdings regardless.
BCE and T, I both sold last year when their debts were out of whack with expectations of dividends cuts to happen, which they did. Both Telcos are working to balance their books but for now, I'll watch their quarterly earnings progress if any.
The remaining 8 stocks are doing the lifting as mentioned in Dale's article. CNQ, ENB, PPL, CNQ, TRP, BNS, EMA, and CTC-A. These days I'm watching their valuations looking at analyst predictions and the Graham Numbers plus the P/E numbers I like to see under 20, preferably 15 but these stocks are attractive to many an investor for growth and dividends. Predictions I take with a grain of salt which can change frequently.
There are many choices above and as always, this post is just my personal opinion and long term goals, not investment advice.
Brookfield Corporation can be a complicated company looking at it's many arms and what they manage. I'll be looking over two of these before their 31st ex-dividend dates and I have mentioned these in previous articles geared toward dividends paid in USD.
September will be one of my busiest months looking over the stocks from energy, pipelines and power providers I have an interest in.
