Buy Reitmans, hold on to Aeropostale

Article Excerpt

REITMANS (CANADA) LTD. $13.90 (Toronto symbol RET.A; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-384-1140; www.reitmans.com; Shares outstanding: 66.3 million; Market cap: $942.9 million; Dividend yield: 5.8%) owns 965 women’s clothing stores across Canada. The chain consists of 363 Reitmans, 160 Penningtons, 157 Smart Set, 122 Addition Elle, 73 Thyme Maternity, 67 RW & Co. and 23 Cassis stores. Reitmans continues to actively monitor its regional markets, and open and close stores as necessary. In the three months ended April 30, 2011, Reitmans’ earnings fell 98.3%, to $624,000, or $0.01 a share, from $37.3 million, or $0.23 a share, a year earlier. Sales were down 7.0%, to $219.3 million from $235.7 million. Same-store sales declined 8.7%. There were a number of reasons for the declines, including poor spring weather and the lateness of the Easter holiday, when customers normally buy more spring and summer clothing. As well, the company spent more on promotions due to rising competition. However, Reitmans’ strong brands should help its earnings rebound as…