Boring can be beautiful when the market gets nervous
In the wake of a turbulent market cycle that exposed the fragility of speculative growth, a quieter philosophy of wealth-building is reasserting itself. Four Canadian companies — goeasy, Canadian Tire, Fortis, and Nutrien — embody the principle that patience and consistency, expressed through steadily rising dividends, can outperform the noise of short-term speculation. For those who measure prosperity not in overnight gains but in decades of compounding income, these stocks represent a kind of financial wisdom that markets periodically forget and then rediscover.
- Inflation and market volatility in 2022 shattered confidence in high-growth stocks, forcing investors to reconsider what 'reliable' actually means.
- Dividend-growth stocks — long dismissed as unexciting — are now drawing serious attention as inflation erodes the value of static income streams.
- goeasy's 33.67% five-year dividend CAGR and Fortis's near-50-year streak of consecutive raises signal that these are not passive holdings but actively compounding wealth engines.
- Canadian Tire and Nutrien, both trading below their peaks, offer investors a rare combination: discounted entry prices and yields between 2.9% and 4.1% with room to grow.
- The collective thesis is landing clearly — steady cash generation, shareholder-friendly capital return, and defensive positioning are becoming the most sought-after qualities in an uncertain economy.
Something shifted in 2022. The speculative rally that had defined the previous years ran out of momentum, inflation refused to retreat, and investors began asking a different question: not how fast can this grow, but how reliably will this hold?
Dividend-growth stocks offer a three-part answer — regular income, reduced volatility, and a natural hedge against inflation as payouts rise over time. For retirees and passive-income seekers, that combination is not merely attractive; it is essential.
goeasy, a TSX-listed specialty finance company, has grown its dividend from ninety cents to nearly four dollars over five years — a compound annual rate of 33.67% — and currently yields over 4.1%. Despite recent regulatory headwinds, its loan book and earnings continue to expand, and the stock remains attractively priced.
Canadian Tire, battered by recession fears that never fully materialized, now trades at a discount while offering a 4% yield and a five-year dividend growth rate of 13.9%. The market's anxiety became the long-term investor's opportunity.
Fortis, a utility company, offers something rarer still: nearly fifty consecutive years of dividend increases. Yielding 3.9% with 5.86% annual dividend growth, it is the kind of holding that rewards those who are content to own and wait.
Nutrien, the agricultural giant with a market cap exceeding forty-eight billion dollars, completes the picture. Its 2.9% yield reflects a company still reinvesting heavily in its own growth, yet it achieved Dividend Aristocrat status at the earliest opportunity after its 2018 founding merger.
What unites these four companies is not glamour but function — they generate cash, return it to shareholders, and raise that return year after year. In a moment when uncertainty has become the prevailing condition, that kind of dependability has quietly become the most compelling story in the market.
When the market was moving fast and loose, most investors chased growth stocks—the kind that promised to double or triple in a year. But something shifted in 2022. The rally stalled. Inflation stayed stubborn. Uncertainty became the only certainty. Now, a different kind of stock is starting to look smart again: the dividend-growth stock.
These are the companies that don't promise to make you rich overnight. Instead, they promise something steadier: a regular payment that actually grows over time, a portfolio that doesn't swing wildly when the market gets nervous, and a built-in hedge against inflation as those payments rise. For people who need income now—or who are thinking about the years when they will—this matters. For everyone else, it's a reminder that boring can be beautiful.
Take goeasy, a specialty finance company trading on the TSX. The stock has taken some hits lately, partly because the government's recent budget proposals could reshape how it operates. But look at what it's actually done: its dividend has grown from ninety cents to three dollars and eighty-four cents over the past five years, a compound annual growth rate of 33.67 percent. Right now, it yields more than 4.1 percent. The loan book keeps expanding. Revenue and earnings keep climbing. The company is cheap today, and the long-term picture looks solid.
Canadian Tire tells a similar story, though with a different flavor. Retail stocks have been beaten down by recession fears. The market worried the company would struggle. It didn't. The stock is off its highs, which means you can buy it at a discount and lock in a 4 percent dividend yield at the same time. Over five years, Canadian Tire has grown its dividend at a 13.9 percent compound annual rate. That's real money, and it's real growth.
Fortis, a utility company, operates in a different world entirely—the world of defensive, reliable cash generation. What makes it remarkable is almost absurd in its simplicity: it has raised its dividend for nearly fifty years straight. That's not a marketing slogan. That's a track record. The company currently yields 3.9 percent and has grown its dividend at 5.86 percent annually over the past five years. For someone who wants to know that their income stream is not going to disappear, Fortis is the kind of stock you can own and forget about.
Nutrien, a massive agricultural company with a market cap north of forty-eight billion dollars, rounds out the group. It's a blue-chip stock with a dominant position in its industry and the kind of cash-generation ability that lets it weather almost anything. The dividend yield is lower at 2.9 percent, but that's because the company is reinvesting most of its earnings back into the business. It achieved Dividend Aristocrat status—meaning it raised its dividend every year for at least five consecutive years—as soon as it could after the 2018 merger that created it. The dividend has grown at 5.8 percent annually since then.
What ties these four together is not that they're exciting. It's that they work. They generate cash. They share it with shareholders. They raise that share over time. They don't crater when the market gets nervous. In an environment where inflation is still elevated and nobody quite knows what comes next, that kind of reliability has become the most interesting thing in the room.
Notable Quotes
Dividend stocks offer steady income, lower volatility, and can act as a hedge against inflation when they increase dividends at impressive rates— The Motley Fool Canada analysis
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a dividend-growth stock matter more now than it did two years ago?
Two years ago, the market was moving so fast that people didn't need the income. They were betting on capital gains. Now that growth has stalled and uncertainty is high, people need the cash flow—and they need to know it won't disappear.
But if a company is paying out dividends, isn't it using money it could reinvest in growth?
Sometimes. But these companies are mature enough that they can do both. goeasy is still growing its loan book rapidly while paying a dividend. Nutrien reinvests most of its earnings and still raises the dividend. It's not either-or.
What does it mean that Fortis has raised its dividend for fifty years?
It means the company has survived recessions, inflation spikes, interest-rate changes, and market crashes—and still found a way to pay shareholders more each year. That's not luck. That's a business model that actually works.
Is there a risk these stocks could cut their dividends?
Always. But these are established companies with strong cash flows. The risk is lower than it would be with a startup or a company in a cyclical downturn. Fortis and Nutrien especially have the kind of defensive positions where dividend cuts would be a last resort.
So you're saying inflation is actually good for these stocks?
Not good. But these companies can raise prices and pass costs along to customers. When they do, they can raise dividends too. That's the hedge. Your income grows with inflation instead of shrinking.
What happens if the market crashes tomorrow?
These stocks will probably fall too. But you'll still get your dividend payment. And if you keep buying, you'll get more shares at lower prices. That's the real power of dividend stocks in uncertain times.