FRU rewarding shareholders. Freehold Royalties company is quick to pass on earnings gains to investors. The Globe's guest columnist Gordon Pape writes that Freehold is a fossil fuel royalties company that saw its profits shoot up as oil and natural gas prices rose. Mr. Pape says most companies only increase their dividend once a year (if they do so at all). Freehold, he notes, has bumped its return five times in the past 12 months. It has an annual payout of 72 cents. Mr. Pape gives Freehold a "higher risk" designation. Freehold is a dividend-paying oil and gas royalty company with assets mostly in Western Canada, although it is expanding in the United States. Its primary focus is to acquire and actively manage royalties, while providing a lower-risk income vehicle for shareholders. Freehold has one of the largest independently owned portfolios of royalty lands in Canada, with holdings totalling more than 6.7 million gross acres. This security is suitable for investors who are willing to take on above-average risk in exchange for a 5.6-per-cent yield and the potential for future dividend increases if natural gas and oil prices stay high.