Aggressive
SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $52 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 150.9 million; Market cap: $7.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 1.3%; SI Rating: Average) has formed an alliance with Alusa Engenharia Ltda, a leading engineering firm in Brazil.
Together, the two companies plan to bid on new infrastructure projects in Brazil, which is hosting …read more »
TIM HORTONS INC. $37 (Toronto symbol THI; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 176.2 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 1.4%; SI Rating: Average) is one of Canada’s largest fast-food restaurant chains, with 3,040 outlets that mainly serve coffee and donuts. The company also has 587 stores in the U.S.
Tim Hortons recently agreed to sell …read more »
PENGROWTH ENERGY TRUST $11 (Toronto symbol PGF.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Units outstanding: 291.3 million; Market cap: $3.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 7.6%; SI Rating: Average) is one of North America’s largest energy royalty trusts. Its main properties are in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan. The trust also holds interests in other energy projects, such as its 8.4% …read more »
VANGUARD EMERGING MARKETS ETF $45.24 (New York symbol VWO; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is made up of common stocks of companies located in emerging markets around the world. The fund has an MER of 0.27%.
The fund’s top holdings are China Mobile (China: wireless), Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), Samsung Electronics (South …read more »
Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment-management companies. The group manages over $1 trillion U.S. in 150 mutual funds.
Vanguard, which went into business in 1975, offers low-fee index mutual funds. Generally speaking, Canadians can’t buy units of mutual funds that are registered in the U.S., because they aren’t registered with provincial securities commissions. For that matter, some …read more »
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. $25 (New York symbol TXN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $30.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 2.1%; WSSF Rating: Average) plans to buy back $7.5 billion of its shares. That’s in addition to the $1.3 billion still outstanding under its current buyback plan. There’s no time limit to …read more »
NVIDIA CORP. $11 (Nasdaq symbol NVDA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 574.0 million; Market cap: $6.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; No dividends paid; WSSF Rating: Average) should also benefit from rising demand for consumer electronics. That’s because it is a leading designer of 3D-capable video chips for computers and other devices. These chips make video games …read more »
APACHE CORP. $95 (New York symbol APA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 364.3 million; Market cap: $34.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.1; Dividend yield: 0.6%; WSSF Rating: Average) still plans to go ahead with its purchase of Mariner Energy Inc. (New York symbol ME), despite an explosion at one of Mariner’s offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. …read more »
DEL MONTE FOODS CO. $13 (New York symbol DLM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 193.7 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 2.8%; WSSF Rating: Average) makes canned fruits, vegetables, sauces and soups. Its leading brands include Del Monte, Contadina, S&W and College Inn.
In 2006, the company bought the Meow Mix line of cat foods …read more »
ALARMFORCE INDUSTRIES $7.13 (Toronto symbol AF: SI Rating: Speculative) (1-800-267-2001; www.alarmforce.com; Shares outstanding: 12.2 million; Market cap: $87.2 million; No dividends paid) sells two-way voice alarm systems and monitoring services in Canada and the U.S.
AlarmForce’s system differs from others because it lets emergency operators verify an alarm by establishing immediate, two-way voice contact with homeowners. It then dispatches security personnel …read more »
