Dividend shares can look easy, however February can punish lazy picks. A excessive yield can disguise a shrinking enterprise, an excessive amount of debt, or a payout that solely works if charges fall quick. One of the best TSX dividend shares normally share just a few traits: money stream that reveals up quarter after quarter, property with actual resale worth, and a payout ratio that leaves room for a nasty yr. It additionally helps when administration treats the dividend like a fame, not a advertising line. In order for you earnings you’ll be able to sleep on, it’s best to give attention to sturdiness first, then yield. So let’s take a look at one dividend inventory to think about.
MRD
Melcor Developments (TSX:MRD) doesn’t get the identical consideration as the massive banks or pipelines, nevertheless it sits in a well-recognized Canadian candy spot. It’s an actual property improvement and asset administration firm based mostly in Alberta, constructing worth by taking uncooked land and turning it into communities and industrial tasks, whereas additionally holding income-producing properties. It owns and manages a mixture of retail, workplace, industrial, and different actual property, which supplies it a number of levers to drag relying in the marketplace. The diversified actual property developer can promote land, lease house, recycle capital, and maintain gathering lease whereas it waits for higher situations.
The largest story during the last yr has been simplification and management. In April 2025, it hit a serious milestone by closing the acquisition of the remaining public belief models of Melcor actual property funding belief (REIT), bringing the income-producing properties absolutely again beneath its umbrella.
The dividend story additionally improved, which is the half earnings traders truly care about. In 2025, it lifted its quarterly dividend to $0.13 per share from $0.11, and it paid a complete of $0.48 per share for the yr, versus $0.44 in 2024. That’s not a flashy leap, nevertheless it indicators confidence, and it reveals administration needs the dividend to maneuver in the fitting course once more after prior cuts in earlier years. Should you’re buying in February, that upward development can matter as a lot because the beginning yield.
Earnings assist
Now let’s get into earnings, as a result of the comeback case wants numbers behind it. In Q3 2025, Melcor reported income of $72.5 million and web earnings of $14.1 million. Fundamental earnings got here in at $0.46 per share, a pointy enchancment from the loss posted in Q3 2024, and it generated funds from operations of $23.4 million within the quarter. These outcomes additionally confirmed how lumpy the enterprise could be, as a result of land gross sales and undertaking timing could make one quarter look dramatically higher than one other.
The steadiness sheet issues simply as a lot for a dividend identify, particularly one tied to actual property. As of Sept. 30, 2025, whole liquidity stood at about $193.1 million, and whole common debt sat close to $593.9 million, down from roughly $611.3 million on the finish of 2024. That course is what you wish to see. It tells you the dividend inventory retains working the debt down whereas it funds improvement and helps the dividend. It additionally reduces the chance of a dividend reduce triggered by refinancing strain.
So what about valuation and what you’re truly paying right now? Proper now it trades at simply 8.5 occasions earnings, with a ahead annual dividend of $0.52, which works out to a yield round 3.2%. That valuation seems modest in comparison with many TSX “secure dividend” favourites. It additionally suggests the market nonetheless views it as cyclical and unsure, which might create alternative if operations keep regular. The truth is, right here’s what $7,000 may carry right now.
| COMPANY | RECENT PRICE | NUMBER OF SHARES | ANNUAL DIVIDEND | ANNUAL TOTAL PAYOUT | FREQUENCY | TOTAL INVESTMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRD | $16.35 | 428 | $0.52 | $222.56 | Quarterly | $6,997.80 |
Silly takeaway
This inventory might be a purchase for somebody searching for a February dividend decide that isn’t priced like a TSX celeb. The enchantment comes from an affordable valuation, a dividend that has began to climb once more, and a enterprise that owns actual property fairly than hype. The dangers are clear, too: earnings can swing with land gross sales, actual property values can wobble, and Alberta-focused publicity can amplify cycles. In order for you a gentle, boring dividend machine, it might not really feel as clean as a utility. Should you can settle for some lumpiness in trade for worth and a rising payout, it deserves a spot in your shortlist.
