If you are reticent about investing directly in cannabis stocks given that the sector is down -20.9% YTD, consider investing in those tobacco, beer, liquor and other companies that have invested heavily in the cannabis industry and pay dividends to boot. Here is a look at that particular market sector and how it compares with the performance of 3 other sector category indices.

Before providing the details of the stocks in that sector let's summarize the performance of each of munKNEE's cannabis stock indices to put things in context:

1. The munKNEE Canadian Pure-Play Licensed Producers (LPs) Pot Stock Index consists of 6 stocks, namely: Aurora (ACB), Canopy (CGC), Cronos (CRON), Hexo (HEXO), Organigram  (OGI), and Tilray (TLRY). The Index is DOWN -3.5% so far this month and is DOWN -30.3% YTD. Read this exclusive TalkMarket's article for more details about this particular Index.
2. The munKNEE American Pure-Play Multi-State Operators Pot Stock Index consists of 17 stocks, namely: 4Front (FFNTF), Acreage (ACRDF/ACRHF), Ascend (AAWH), Ayr (AYRWF), Charlotte's Web (CWBHF), Columbia (CCHWF), Cresco (CRLBF), Curaleaf (CURLF),  Gage (GAGE), Goodness Growth (GDNSF), Green Thumb (GTBIF), Valens (VLNCF), Jushi (JUSHF),  Planet 13 (PLNHF), TerrAscend (TRSSF), Trulieve (TRSSF) and Verano (VRNOF). The Index is UP +3.1% so far this month but is DOWN -17.9% YTD. Read this exclusive TalkMarket's article for more details about this particular Index.
3. The munKNEE Pure-Play Marijuana-Based Drug Stocks Index consists of 7 marijuana-based clinical-stage drug stocks, namely: Allied (ALID), Corbus (CRBP), Enveric (ENVB), MGC Pharma (MGCLF), Revive (RVVTF), Tetra Bio (TBPMF), Zelira (ZLDAF) and Zynerba (ZYNE). The Index is DOWN -6.0% so far this month and is DOWN -10.4% YTD. Read this exclusive TalkMarket's article for more details about this particular Index.
4. The munKNEE Conservative Pot Stocks Index consists of 7 tobacco, beer, liquor and other companies that have invested heavily in the cannabis industry, namely: Alimentation Couche -Tard (ANCUF), Altria (NYSE: MO), Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), British American Tobacco  (BTI). Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), Imperial Brands (IMBBY) and Molson Coors  (NYSE: TAP). The Index is UP +1.9% so far this month and is UP 0.8% YTD. Read this exclusive TalkMarket's article for more details about this particular Index.

As you can see from the above summary our Conservative Pot Stocks Index is the top performing cannabis category YTD. The performance of its constituents are compared below with their associated cannabis stocks:

1. Alimentation Couche-Tard is UP +7.0% YTD and now has a Dividend Yield of 0.9%.
   • The company has a 9.9% ownership stake in Fire & Flower Holdings Corp.  (FFLWF) which is DOWN -25.0% YTD and pays out no dividend.
2. Altria Group is UP +8.5% YTD and now has a Dividend Yield of 8.2%.
   • The company has a 45% stake in Cronos Group Inc. (Nasdaq: CRON) which is DOWN -32.7% YTD and pays out no dividend.
3. Anheuser-Busch is DOWN -16.7% YTD and now has a Dividend Yield of 1.0%.
   • The company has a $100 million joint venture with Tilray Inc. (Nasdaq: TLRY) which is UP +28.0% YTD but pays out no dividend.
4. British American Tobacco is DOWN -6.8% YTD and now has a Dividend Yield of 8.6%. 
   • The company has a C$221M investment and product development partnership with Organigram Holdings Inc. (OGI) which is UP +50.4% YTD but pays out no dividend.
5. Constellation Brands is UP +5.0% YTD and now has a Dividend Yield of 1.3%.
   • The company has a 39% stake in Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE: CGC) which is DOWN -52.6% YTD and pays out no dividend.
6. Imperial Brands is UP +3.4% YTD and now has a Dividend Yield of 12.1%.
   • The company has a 19.9% stake in Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. (CBWTF) which is DOWN -15.0% YTD and pays out no dividend.
7. Molson Coors Brewing Company is UP +0.9% YTD and now has a Dividend Yield of 2.9%.
   • The company has a 57.5%/42.5% joint venture, called TRUSS, with Hexo Corp. (NYSE: HEXO) which is DOWN -67.7% YTD and pays out no dividend.

In Conclusion

• Stock Performances:
  • the Conservative Pot Stocks Index is UP +0.8% YTD while
  • their marijuana partners are DOWN -9.4% YTD, on average.
• Dividend Yields:
  • the Conservative Pot Stocks Index constituents have dividends that currently yield 8.7%, on average, while
  • their marijuana partners pay out no dividends.

Given the above, if you are reticent about investing directly in cannabis stocks consider investing in one or more of the above mentioned tobacco, beer, liquor or convenience store companies that have invested heavily in the cannabis industry.

The above non-tradable indices replicate the performance of a portfolio investing an equal amount of money in each company in the various cannabis categories, with daily rebalancing to maintain equal weight, to serve as benchmarks to measure the performance of individual stocks compared to their respective index. We believe this overview of the cannabis stock sector is the most insightful analysis to be found anywhere.