Boralex plans to build a wind farm on land that is publicly owned by Saint-Elzéar-de-Témiscouata and Saint-Honoré-de-Témiscouata, near where the company is already developing a wind power project.Roger Hallett/The Globe and Mail
Boralex Inc., one of Canada's most diversified renewable energy producers, is finally joining the dividend club.
The Montreal-based company, which owns a portfolio of wind, solar and hydroelectric power plants in Canada, France and the northeastern United States, will pay its first quarterly dividend of 13 cents a share on March 17.
Boralex shares jumped about 7 per cent in Wednesday morning trading after the announcement, to more than $13 a share. The stock is now up by more than 45 per cent over the past year. The dividend will generate a yield of about 4 per cent at the current stock price.
The company said it made the move because it has a strong cash position, stable cash flows, and its renewable energy projects have "fixed and indexed" long-term contracts.
For years, Boralex has said it would consider paying a dividend after the start up of the first phase of its giant Seigneurie de Beaupré wind project project in Quebec. The 126-turbine project, which generates enough power for 50,000 homes, completed its commissioning in December.
The move to pay a dividend puts Boralex in line with most of its Canadian competitors in the green power generating business. Companies such as Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP, Atlantic Power Corp., Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. and Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. all pay dividends.