Topic: Growth Stocks

Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Friday, September 4, 2015

Article Excerpt

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD INC., $59.94, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, hit a new all-time high this week after reporting improved profits in the latest quarter. Couche-Tard operates 7,987 convenience stores throughout North America. The Canadian outlets operate under the Couche-Tard and Mac’s banners, while the U.S. stores mainly use the Circle K brand. In Europe, the company operates 2,229 stores across Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), Poland, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Russia. In the three months ended July 19, 2015, Couche-Tard’s sales fell 2.2%, to $8.98 billion from $9.19 billion a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). The decline came from lower gasoline prices and the sale of its aviation-fuel business late last year. The higher U.S. dollar also cut the contribution from the company’s European operations. That was somewhat offset by a full quarter of sales from The Pantry, which Couche-Tard bought for $1.7 billion on March 16, 2015. The Pantry operates more than 1,500 convenience…