Fairfax buys more Torstar

Article Excerpt

TORSTAR $6.54 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $462.4 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 8.0%; www.torstar.com) continues to attract the interest of Fairfax Financial (Toronto symbol FFH). Fairfax now owns 22.7% of Torstar’s class B non-voting shares, up from 19.3%. Insiders still control Torstar’s class A voting shares. Fairfax’s CEO, Prem Watsa, has a reputation as a shrewd investor, and this move draws attention to Torstar’s value. Moreover, rising stock markets have cut the deficit in the company’s pension plan, so it won’t have to contribute as much this year. The extra cash will let it keep paying quarterly dividends of $0.13125 a share, for an 8.0% annualized yield. Torstar is still a buy. buy…