In the previous article in my dividend investing journey, the first update, I talked about how I started my investing journey years ago, stopped, and resumed in December 2020. So, I’m just moving on to the second month in my Canadian dividend investing journey, and in this article, I will give an update on my portfolio.

Portfolio Value

My investment plan, having zero accumulated wealth, was to invest $100 each month and put them in high yield dividend companies. So, by this standard, my portfolio should have been $200 by the end of January 2021. But, surprise, surprise, I invested $400 as of now! Investing is addicting!

And how much did my portfolio value grow in two months? A whopping 2.98% ($417). Yes, I’m being sarcastic. But, portfolio growth is not what I’m after. It’s only a nice-to-have in case I need to liquidate my investments.

Canadian Dividend Portfolio Update: January 2021

By end of December 2020, I had two positions in dividend-paying companies. By end of January 2021, I hold four positions in such companies. So, while I’m targeting high dividend yields, I’m also focusing on diversification. Although some of these companies are ‘rock-solid,’ rocks, too, fade away with enough time.

Company	Ticker	No. of Shares	Purchase Price	Total Value
Keyera Corp.	KEY	4	$22.89	$91.56
Manulife Financial Corp.	MFC	4	$23.12	$92.48
Pembina Pipeline Corp.	PPL	3	$30.71	$92.13
Shaw Communications	SJR-B	4	$22.10	$88.40
Total				$364.57

The remaining $30 or so are invested in two other non-dividend companies, just as an experiment.

So, how much did I earn in dividends by the end of January 2021?

Dividend Income Update: January 2021

Three out of the four companies that I have invested are monthly dividend payers. I was fortunate enough to get hold of these positions just before the Record Dates of each company.

Company	Dividend Frequency	Dividend Per Share	Jan 21 Dividends	Annualized Dividend Yield
Keyera Corp.	Monthly	$0.1600	$0.64	8.4%
Manulife Finanial Corp.	Quarterly	$0.2800	$0.00	0.0%
Pembina Pipeline	Monthly	$0.2100	$0.63	8.2%
Shaw Communications	Monthly	$0.0985	$0.40	5.4%
Total			$1.67	7.4%

Almost two Canadian dollars a month may not seem like a whole lot. You can buy a small coffee for this. But the important metric is the yield percentage, which stands at 7.4% for these three investments. When the Canadian banks pay you less than 1% interest on your savings accounts, anything above 5% yield is golden!

This dividend income is sitting in my investment account on Wealthsimple Trade. Although Compounding Investment theory suggests that I should re-invest this as soon as possible, realistically the income is too small to invest in any stocks out there.

So, I will have to wait till my next $100 to reinvest the dividend income of $1.67 from January 2021.

Now let’s look at why I picked the two companies I invested in January 2021.

Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL.TO)

Pembina Pipeline Corp. is a household name among dividend investors in Canada. The company is one of the best high-yield dividend payers in the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The company operates pipelines that transport oil and gas throughout North America. They also provide storage facilities for the same commodities.

Being in the Oil & Gas industry, PPL was also affected by the COVID-19 impact on global travel and transport restrictions which trickled into the consumption of crude oil. The share price is about 35% down from a pre-pandemic high of $53. So, the share is still ripe for the picking, and at the current market price of $33, your investment will yield you a gorgeous 7.5% return on investment.

As per the third quarter (2020) performance results, PPL was able to increase its EBITDA by 8% compared to 2019, while the total revenues were down by 8% as well. This might not sound spectacular, but shows signs of resiliency during one of the world economic climates in the world.

So, I am optimistic about the company weathering the COVID-19 impact and being a dividend king in 2021.

Shaw Communications (SJR-B.TO)

In an attempt to divest from investing everything I have into Oil & Gas industry, I paid attention to the telecommunication industry. This is an industry that has been relatively positively impacted through COVID-19 restrictions as more people remain in their houses and rely on telecommunication to connect with friends and family.

Telus Corporation was a heavy contender when making the investment decision in the telecom industry. However, I am a sucker for monthly dividends, which Shaw Communications Inc. promises while Telus sticks to a quarterly dividend.

Shaw Communications operates in Canada and provides wired and wireless mobile connections to individuals and businesses. On top of these, they also provide high-speed internet services (Shaw Fibre +), a television network (Shaw BlueCurve TV), and Shaw Direct-a pay-per-view on-demand subscription services with over 10,000 connections.

Shaw’s stock price is down, trading around $22, from a high of $26 pre-COVID. And at this rate, you can enjoy a sweet 5.4% dividend yield on your investment.

Although during 2020 Shaw Communications saw a decline in net income by 6%, they managed to add over 160,000 new users to their wireless connection base of over 1.8 million users. They also expanded operations to Alberta and British Columbia in 2020. So, more growth is just around the corner. The company also looks forward to 2021 with plans for capital investments of over $1 billion.

Again, I’m optimistic about Shaw Communication’s future into the year 2021, and forwards.

So, this is a full run-down of my dividend investment portfolio based in Canada. Let me hear any questions or feedback you have on any of this in the comments below.

See you from the next month’s update!

Happy investing!