The Canada housing market has managed to thrive in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been particularly true in major metropolitan areas. There was some skepticism coming in 2021, especially from top banks like Royal Bank and CIBC. However, that is making way for optimism after a strong start to the year.
Canada’s housing market should continue to benefit from low supply, very strong demand, and high immigration that will power the latter in the years to come. Today, I want to look at my favourite dividend stock to stash in this environment.
Genworth MI Canada (TSX:MIC) is the largest private residential mortgage insurer in Canada. Its shares have been static so far in 2021. The stock is down 17% in the year-over-year period as of close on January 27.
The company benefited from a strong housing market in the third quarter of 2020. Net income rose 12% from the prior year to $124 million. Moreover, transactional premiums written and total premiums written rose 37% and 36%, respectively. Genworth explained that these increases were due to a jump in transactional mortgage originations.
Investors can expect to see Genworth’s fourth quarter and full-year 2020 results in early February. Shares of Genworth MI Canada last possessed an attractive price-to-earnings ratio of 9.0 and a price-to-book value of 1.0. Better yet, this top housing stock offers a quarterly dividend of $0.54 per share. That represents a very solid 4.9% yield. I’m still bullish on this top dividend stock as the Canada housing market surges.