ANDREW PELLER LTD. $9.08 - Toronto symbol ADW.A

ANDREW PELLER LTD. $9.08 (Toronto symbol ADW.A; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 14.9 million; Market cap: $135.3 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.andrewpeller.com) has formed a joint venture with the winery owned by hockey star Wayne Gretzky. Peller feels it can use its marketing and distribution expertise to increase sales of Gretzky wines in Canada.

Meanwhile, Peller’s sales rose 1.4% in the three months ended September 30, 2011, to $70.0 million from $69.0 million a year earlier. That’s mainly because it is seeing strong demand for its new products and its more-profitable premium brands. Peller earned $3.4 million, or $0.24 a share, up 80.7% from $1.9 million, or $0.13 a share, a year earlier quarter. If you exclude gains on hedging contracts that the company uses to lock in foreignexchange rates, earnings would have risen 8.4%.

Andrew Peller is a buy.

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