TORSTAR CORP. $15 - Toronto symbol TS.B

TORSTAR CORP. $15 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 79.1 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.torstar.com) publishes The Toronto Star, which is Canada’s largest daily newspaper by circulation. The company also publishes three other daily newspapers and over 100 weeklies, mainly in southern Ontario. Newspapers account for about 70% of Torstar’s revenue, and 60% of its earnings. The company’s other main business is wholly owned Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., the world’s leading publisher of romance novels. Torstar recently received $291.6 million from the sale of its 20% stake in CTVglobemedia to BCE Inc. (Toronto symbol BCE). This business owns CTV Television and other broadcasting businesses. The company will probably use some of the cash to pay down its long-term debt of $404.7 million, which is equal to 34% of its market cap. It may also raise its $0.0925 a share quarterly dividend, which has an annualized yield of 2.5%. The stock has gained 50% since September 2010, but trades at just 9.1 times Torstar’s likely 2011 earnings of $1.65 a share. Torstar is a buy.

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