Growth Stocks

Although growth stock picks can be highly volatile, they can make good long-term investments. They may be well-known stars or quiet gems, but they do share one common attribute—they are growing at a higher-than-average rate within their industry, or within the market as a whole, and could keep growing for years or decades.

And keep in mind that we focus on growth stocks, which have a good long-term history and favourable prospects. We downplay momentum stocks that tend to attract many investors simply because they are moving faster than the market averages, but are liable to fall sharply when their momentum fades.

There’s room for growth stock investing in your portfolio, but make sure you follow our TSI Network three-part Successful Investor strategy for your overall portfolio:

  1. Invest mainly in well-established companies;
  2. Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; Utilities);
  3. Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.

Make better stock picks when you read this FREE Special Report, Canadian Growth Stocks: WestJet Stock, RioCan Stock and More.

Read More Close
AMERIGO RESOURCES $0.34 (Toronto symbol ARG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-681-2802; www.amerigoresources.com; Shares outstanding: 173.7 million; Market cap: $59.0 million; No dividends paid) processes copper and molybdenum from waste rock at Chile’s El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine. This rock comes from the mine’s current production and tailings from the nearby Colihues deposit. This contract runs at least through 2037.

Amerigo gets 94% of its revenue by processing copper. The remaining 6% comes from molybdenum.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Amerigo’s copper production fell 7.4%, to 11.35 million pounds from 12.25 million a year earlier. Molybdenum output declined 11.8%, to 160,107 pounds from 181,464.

...
SIERRA WIRELESS $43.46 (Toronto symbol SW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(604-231-1100; www.sierrawireless.com; Shares outstanding: 31.9 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; No dividends paid) makes modules that connect products to the Internet. This is known as machine-to-machine (M2M), or more generally as the Internet of Things.

Web-connected products can be remotely monitored—and potentially fixed—before they cause a breakdown. For example, makers of smart electricity meters, such as Itron, use the company’s modules to connect their products to the web. Sierra’s technology can also warn carmakers of possible defects developing in vehicles.

The company has grown quickly over the last five years, with revenue rising 53.2%, from $358.0 million in 2010 to $548.5 million in 2014 (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). It made $0.63 a share in 2014, up sharply from $0.23 in 2013.

...
Investment Counsellor
Every Thursday we bring you one of our best U.S. stock picks. You get our specific recommendation on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You will read about stocks making moves you should know about, most often from coverage in our newsletter on U.S. investing, Wall Street Stock Forecaster. This week’s U.S. pick comes from our advisory for more aggressive investors, Stock Pickers Digest.

Over 30 billion devices—including things like home thermostats and appliances—will be connected to the Internet by 2020.

That means you’ll be able to control them with a smartphone, set them up to adapt to factors like outside temperatures and have them notify you if, for example, there is smoke or carbon monoxide in your home.

...
AT&T INC. $34 (New York symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 5.2 billion; Market cap: $176.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 5.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) is the largest wireless provider in the U.S., with 120.6 million subscribers. Wireless accounts for 55% of AT&T’s revenue and 75% of its earnings.

The remaining 45% of revenue and 25% of earnings comes from its wireline division, which sells phone services, television packages and high-speed Internet access to 34.4 million customers.

Shift to wireless fuelled sales

...
MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC. $68 (New York symbol MSI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 219.8 million; Market cap: $14.9 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.motorolasolutions.com) recently sold its enterprise division for $3.45 billion. This business makes a variety of electronics, such as bar-code scanners and kiosks, for corporate clients.

The company now focuses on specialized communications equipment, such as radios for police and fire vehicles. Its sales fell 5.6%, to $5.9 billion in 2014 from $6.2 billion in 2013, due to weaker demand in North America and Asia. Earnings per share dropped 33.2%, to $2.58 from $3.86.

The stock has risen recently on speculation that Motorola Solutions is considering selling itself. However, it could drop suddenly if a suitable offer fails to materialize.

...
NORDSTROM INC. $81 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 190.1 million; Market cap: $15.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nordstrom.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 12.1%, to $0.37 a share from $0.33. The new annual rate of $1.48 yields 1.8%.

The company sells upscale clothing and shoes, so it’s less vulnerable to changes in the overall economy. Still, it should benefit as low gasoline prices give consumers more cash for other goods. Meanwhile, the high U.S. dollar cuts the cost of goods it imports from overseas.

Nordstrom is a buy.

...
DIEBOLD INC. $36 (New York symbol DBD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 64.7 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.diebold.com) is a leading maker of automated teller machines. It also makes safes, vaults and building-security systems.

Thanks to a major cost-cutting plan, Diebold’s earnings rose 27.2%, to $1.73 a share in 2014 from $1.36 in 2013. Revenue rose 6.8%, to $3.05 billion from $2.86 billion.

Diebold gets 55% of its revenue from outside of North America, so the high U.S. dollar will probably cause its revenue to fall about 5% in 2015.

...
PFIZER INC. $35 (New York symbol PFE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 6.3 billion; Market cap: $220.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.4; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pfizer.com) has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for new breast cancer drug palbociclib. Pfizer will market this treatment under the Ibrance brand.

Ibrance will probably contribute $4 billion to the company’s annual revenue by 2020; last year, Pfizer’s revenue was $49.6 billion.

The company spends a high 17% of its revenue on research. This hurts its short-term earnings but lets it develop innovative drugs like Ibrance. New treatments like these help Pfizer offset sales of other drugs that have lost their patent protection, like Lipitor (cholesterol) and Celebrex (arthritis).

...
CEDAR FAIR L.P. $56 (New York symbol FUN; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Units outstanding: 55.9 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 5.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cedarfair.com) owns 11 amusement parks, three outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels.

Cedar Fair reported record revenue of $1.16 billion in 2014, up 2.2% from $1.13 billion in 2013. If you exclude the sale of a water park in 2013, attendance was flat. However, spending per guest rose 3%, while out-of-park spending (hotels adjacent to its parks) gained 2%. Higher labour costs and spending on new attractions cut its earnings by 4.1%, to $1.86 a unit from $1.94.

The partnership recently raised its quarterly distribution by 7.1%, to $0.75 from $0.70. The new annual rate of $3.00 yields 5.4%.

...
BUCKEYE PARTNERS L.P. $77 (New York symbol BPL; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Units outstanding: 127.0 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 5.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.buckeye.com) operates over 9,600 kilometres of pipelines in the northeastern and midwestern U.S. Its network pumps gasoline, jet fuel and other petroleum products. The partnership also owns oil and gas storage terminals.

Buckeye continues to expand by acquisition. In December 2013, it paid Hess Corp. (New York symbol HES) $850 million for 19 oil-storage terminals on the U.S. east coast and one on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. It now has over 120 terminals.

In September 2014, it paid $860 million for 80% of a new firm that operates several oil-processing plants on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The deal included a deepwater oil-transfer terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, as well as storage tanks and pipelines.

...