CP Rail’s future is bright

Article Excerpt

We recently made CP our “Stock of the Year” for 2012 in The Successful Investor, our conservative growth advisory. We like the company’s plan to increase efficiency. As well, a prominent American hedge fund now holds a stake in CP and is pushing for more changes. That may further boost CP’s earnings and stock price. CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY $74.14 (Toronto symbol CP; Shares outstanding: 170.0 million; Market cap: $12.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.6%; www.cpr.ca), transports freight between Montreal and Vancouver, and connects with hubs in the U.S. midwest and northeast. In the three months ended December 31, 2011, CP’s revenue rose 8.8%, to $1.41 billion from $1.29 billion a year earlier. Earnings rose 18.8%, to $221 million, or $1.31 a share, from $186 million, or $1.10. CP’s $4.7 billion of debt is a manageable 37.3% of its market cap. CP’s operating ratio worsened to 78.5% from 77.0%, mostly due to 29% higher fuel costs. (Operating ratio is calculated by dividing…