CANADIAN TIRE CORP. $74 (Toronto symbol CTC.A; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 81.2 million; Market cap: $6.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) operates 490 Canadian Tire stores, which specialize in automotive, household and sporting goods. The company owns these stores, but franchisees (called dealers) operate most of them.
The company recently negotiated a new 11-year contract with its dealers. This should make it easier for Canadian Tire and its dealers to remodel stores and adjust inventories as they compete with U.S.- based retailers like Wal-Mart and Target.
Canadian Tire is a buy.