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iSHARES SP TSX COMP HIGH DIV INDEX ETFXEI.TOWEAK BUYJul 15, 2021Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 19, 2026. Market Open.
Likes it for dividends. Lots of large-cap banks and pipelines. Defensive, fairly conservative. Names like TD, CNQ, RY, SU, ENB. Very good dividend yield of 5.1%. Banks are cheap right now, so potential for a pretty good move up. Once interest rates fall, the telcos in this particular ETF will perform well.
XEI pays a 4.89% dividend yield, trades at an 11x PE and a 0.91 beta. Volumes average 73,300 so daily trading can be a little choppy, but a dealbreaker. XEI charges only a 0.22% MER. If you’re skittish the banks and are an ESG investor, avoid XEI. All others, give this a look. Read Canadian dividend payers for our full analysis.
You have to be aware of the sector exposure. In overweight, high dividend ETFs, energy exposure doubles to almost 30%. If it's a standalone ETF for your retirement account, you probably want to be more diversified than that. But if it's one component of your portfolio, it's a good holding. An alternative is SDIV, which opens up the world of high dividends to you. SDIV is his preference as a one-stop shop for retirement, as it's more globally diversified without the cyclicality of the energy sector.