Dividend shares can look easy, however February can punish lazy picks. A excessive yield can conceal a shrinking enterprise, an excessive amount of debt, or a payout that solely works if charges fall quick. The perfect TSX dividend shares normally share just a few traits: money circulate that reveals up quarter after quarter, belongings 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 and marketing line. In order for you earnings you possibly can sleep on, it’s best to concentrate on sturdiness first, then yield. So let’s take a look at one dividend inventory to contemplate.
MRD
Melcor Developments (TSX:MRD) doesn’t get the identical consideration as the massive banks or pipelines, however it sits in a well-known 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 initiatives, whereas additionally holding income-producing properties. It owns and manages a mixture of retail, workplace, industrial, and different actual property, which provides 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 accumulating lease whereas it waits for higher circumstances.
The most important story during the last yr has been simplification and management. In April 2025, it hit a significant milestone by closing the acquisition of the remaining public belief items of Melcor actual property funding belief (REIT), bringing the income-producing properties totally 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 bounce, however it alerts confidence, and it reveals administration desires the dividend to maneuver in the appropriate path once more after prior cuts in earlier years. Should you’re procuring in February, that upward pattern can matter as a lot because the beginning yield.
Earnings help
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 internet earnings of $14.1 million. Primary 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 may be, as a result of land gross sales and challenge timing could make one quarter look dramatically higher than one other.
The steadiness sheet issues simply as a lot for a dividend title, particularly one tied to actual property. As of Sept. 30, 2025, whole liquidity stood at about $193.1 million, and whole normal debt sat close to $593.9 million, down from roughly $611.3 million on the finish of 2024. That path is what you need 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 danger of a dividend lower triggered by refinancing strain.
So what about valuation and what you’re truly paying immediately? 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 to be modest in comparison with many TSX “protected dividend” favourites. It additionally suggests the market nonetheless views it as cyclical and unsure, which may create alternative if operations keep regular. In actual fact, right here’s what $7,000 might carry immediately.
| 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 could possibly be a purchase for somebody in search of a February dividend choose 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 belongings reasonably 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 gradual, 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.