ARBOR MEMORIAL SERVICES INC. $27 (Toronto symbol ABO.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 10.7 million; Market cap: $288.9 million; SI Rating: Average) owns 41 cemeteries, 27 crematoria, four reception centres located on cemetery premises and 90 funeral homes in eight provinces. In its second fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2008, Arbor earned $0.60 a share, down 9.1% from $0.66 a year earlier. Revenue fell 1.5%, to $58.4 million from $59.3 million.
Arbor is a buy for aggressive investors.
RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $21 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 212.0 million; Market cap: $4.5 billion; SI Rating: Average) has formed a second joint venture with U.S.-based real estate developer Kimco Realty Corp. This new 50-50 partnership has agreed to buy 10 retail shopping centres in central and eastern Canada. RioCan will manage these properties.
RioCan’s share of the $156 million cost is $78 million. That’s equal to 2.6 times the $30.3 million or $0.14 a unit that RioCan earned in the first quarter of 2008.
RioCan is a buy.
TORSTAR CORP. $14 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.8 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; SI Rating: Above average) has paid an undisclosed sum for Central Ontario Web Ltd., a commercial printing company in Barrie, Ontario.
The purchase will help expand capacity at Torstar’s community newspaper division. It will also cut distribution costs. Right now, Torstar prints many of its central Ontario papers at its plants in Toronto and then transports them to these communities.
Torstar is a buy.
CGI GROUP INC. $11 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 318.3 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion; SI Rating: Speculative) fell recently after the company’s founders announced a complex estate-planning deal that will let them sell roughly 30% of their multiple voting shares, but retain the voting rights associated with the stock.
Investors worry that these insider sales could amount to a change of control. That would give many of CGI’s clients the option to cancel their contracts. However, these insiders still control 52% of CGI’s votes.
CGI Group is a buy.