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PRECISION DRILLING TRUST, $5.84 (Toronto symbol PD.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Units outstanding: 241.2 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; SI Rating: Extra Risk) provides contract-drilling services in Canada and the United States through a fleet of 380 rigs.
Precision is raising cash to pay down debt related to last December’s $2-billion purchase Grey Wolf Inc., which operates …read more »
SHAWCOR LTD. $21 (Toronto symbol SCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 71.3 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; SI Rating: Average) will pay a special dividend of $0.26 on May 29, 2009. It has also increased its regular quarterly dividend by 7.7%, to $0.07 a share from $0.065. The new annual rate of $0.28 …read more »
TORSTAR CORP. $5.32 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.9 million; Market cap: $419.7 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; SI Rating: Above Average) reported a first-quarter loss of $21.4 million, or $0.27 a share. However, that was largely caused by a $0.23-a-share charge related to employee layoffs and a change in Torstar’s senior management. The company lost …read more »
METRO INC. $37 (Toronto symbol MRU.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 111.4 million; Market cap: $4.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; SI Rating: Average) operates roughly 660 grocery stores in Quebec and Ontario. Metro, Super C and Food Basics are some of its major banners. Metro also operates or supplies 270 drugstores, and owns about 23% of Quebec-based convenience-store …read more »
PENGROWTH ENERGY TRUST $8.64 (Toronto symbol PGF.UN) reported that its cash flow for the first quarter of 2009 fell 57.5%, to $0.37 a unit from $0.87 a year earlier. Higher interest expenses, performance bonuses and royalties were the main reasons for the drop. Still, its $1.20 distribution rate seems secure, and yields 13.9%. Buy.
IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $41 (Toronto symbol IMO) …read more »
George Weston shares have risen from a low of $41.83 last July. That’s mainly because of improved performance at 62%-held Loblaw, Canada’s largest grocery-store operator. Weston has also sold off some of its other assets. It now has lots of cash — and lots of options for using it to the benefit of its shareholders.
GEORGE WESTON LTD. $63.25 (Toronto symbol …read more »
We still think high-quality mutual funds with a long-term focus will beat stock-market indexes over time. If funds invest as we advise — sticking with well-established companies and spreading their assets across the five main economic sectors — they will likely lose a lot less than the indexes during a significant market downturn.
That’s because big market slides are particularly hard …read more »
RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $13.51 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 222.1 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust (REIT).
RioCan has issued $180 million worth of new bonds. The trust will use the proceeds to retire $55 million of bonds that are due this year. That will leave it with $125 million, …read more »
IBM $104.62 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $138.2 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) was recently beaten by Oracle Corp. in its bid to buy computer hardware maker Sun Microsystems. IBM never publicly confirmed its interest in Sun, but it seems the two companies could not agree on a price, among other terms.
Even without Sun, IBM’s …read more »
RBC CANADIAN DIVIDEND FUND $37.65 (RBC Funds, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; Web site: www.royalbank.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) invests in well-established, dividend-paying companies. In fact, it invests solely in common stocks. That’s why, despite the fund’s name, we rate it Conservative rather than Income.
The $7.1-billion RBC Canadian Dividend Fund’s top …read more »
