Updates LOBLAW COMPANIES, PENGROWTH ENERGY, ENCANA CORP.

Article Excerpt

LOBLAW COMPANIES $33.47 (Toronto symbol L; Shares outstanding: 281.5 million; Market cap: $9.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.6%; www.loblaw.ca) has signed a new long-term deal with Towers Watson, a private firm that helps Canadian companies manage their employees’ health benefits. Under the agreement, Loblaw’s in-store pharmacies will offer special discounts to Towers Watson’s clients, which together employ over 30,000 people. These discounts should draw more shoppers to Loblaw’s stores and more than offset the lost revenue. Roughly half of Loblaw’s 1,000 supermarkets now have in-store pharmacies. Loblaw is a buy. PENGROWTH ENERGY $5.07 (Toronto symbol PGF; Shares outstanding: 500.4 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 9.5%; www.pengrowth.com) continues to increase its oil production in response to weak natural gas prices. Gas now accounts for 60% of its production, down from 63% a year earlier. The company plans to spend $55 million over the next 14 months on new equipment for its Lindbergh oil sands project. That’s equal…