TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $15 - Toronto symbol TCL.A

TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $15 (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.1 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) saw its earnings rise 13.7% in the quarter ended April 30, 2015, to $39.1 million, or $0.50 a share, from $34.4 million, or $0.44, a year ago. The gain largely came from two recent acquisitions: in May 2014, the company bought U.S.-based Capri Packaging, a maker of plastic bags and pouches for cheese and other dairy products, for $146.5 million. And in June 2014, it paid Sun Media $78.8 million for 74 weekly newspapers in Quebec. Revenue rose 2.7%, to $490.5 million from $477.5 million. Contributions from acquisitions offset lower revenue from printing flyers, particularly after Target closed its 133 Canadian stores. The company won new printing contracts in 2014, and it’s seeing more savings as it merges overlapping operations. That should let it maintain its current dividend rate of $0.68 a share, which yields 4.5%. Dividends accounted for just 27.9% of Transcontinental’s earnings in the past 12 months. Transcontinental is a buy.

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.