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:
- Invest mainly in well-established companies;
- Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; Utilities);
- 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.
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MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC. $70 (New York symbol MSI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 176.7 million; Market cap: $12.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.motorolasolutions.com) is buying Airwave, which provides two-way radio and other communications services to over 300 emergency and public service agencies in the U.K....
HEWLETT-PACKARD ENTERPRISE CO. $15 (www.hpe.com) should benefit as more businesses shift to cloud computing systems. However, this new firm faces strong competition from larger, better-established cloud providers like Amazon Web Services and IBM. Hold.
HP INC. $12 (www.hp.com) took its current form on November 1, 2015, when the old Hewlett-Packard Co. split into two firms. HP Inc. focuses on personal computers and printers, while Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (see below) sells computing services and products, like servers and analytics software, to businesses and governments....
ENERFLEX LTD., $11.78 (Toronto symbol EFX; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (403-387-6377; www.enerflex.com; Shares outstanding: 77.7 million; Market cap: $915.3 million; Dividend yield: 2.4%) rents and sells equipment and services for natural gas production, including compression and processing plants, refrigeration equipment and power generators. The company has a strong position in three fastgrowing markets: U.S. and Canadian shale gas production; Australian natural gas from coal beds; and conventional Middle Eastern natural gas, which is converted to liquefied natural gas (LNG) for shipping. Natural gas prices are low, but companies continue to increase their drilling and production. In the quarter ended September 30, 2012, Enerflex’s revenue jumped 31.0%, to $369.7 million from $282.3 million a year ago. Strong demand from international customers pushed the company’s sales higher....
ALIMENTATION COUCHETARD $63.53 (Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couchetard. com; Shares outstanding: 567.4 million; Market cap: $35.9 billion; Dividend yield: 0.4%) has agreed to buy Ireland’s Topaz chain. The price was not disclosed but is likely in the $400-million range. Topaz is the country’s leading operator of gas stations and convenience stores. The chain consists of 464 locations across Ireland. This purchase is smaller than Couche-Tard’s $2.7-billion purchase of Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail gas station chain in June 2012 and The Pantry, which it bought for $1.7 billion in March 2015. The Pantry operates 1,500 convenience stores in the U.S....
TRILOGY ENERGY CORP. $3.35 (Toronto symbol TET; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-290-2900; www.trilogyenergy.com; Shares outstanding: 105.4 million; Market cap: $432.8 million; No dividends paid) owns oil and gas properties in central Alberta’s Kaybob and Grande Prairie areas. About 64% of Trilogy’s production is natural gas. The remaining 36% is oil. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Trilogy produced 25,090 barrels of oil equivalent a day (including gas), down 28.6% from 35,125 barrels a year earlier. However, pipeline outages cut about 2,600 barrels a day from the latest figure. Cash flow per share fell sharply, to $0.18 from $0.69, on the production drop and lower oil and gas prices....
BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY $3.62 (Toronto symbol BIR; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-261-6401; www.birchcliffenergy.com; Shares outstanding: 152.3 million; Market cap: $542.2 million; No dividends paid) develops, produces and explores for oil and gas, mainly in the Peace River Arch area near the Alberta/B.C. border. About 87% of its output is gas. The remaining 13% is oil. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Birchcliff’s cash flow per share dropped 42.0%, to $0.29 from $0.50 a year earlier. Sharply lower oil and gas prices offset a 12.3% rise in daily production. The company continues to support its cash flow with cost cuts. As well, in response to low prices, Birchcliff cut back on exploration and development spending for 2015. It will likely spend $249 million during the full year, down 45.0% from $451 million in 2014. It hasn’t yet announced its 2016 spending plans....
BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $54.44 New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 118.6 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; Dividend yield: 2.2%) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada. Without one-time items, Broadridge earned $39.6 million in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended September 30, 2015. That’s up 7.9% from $36.7 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 10.0%, to $0.33 from $0.30, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue gained 7.0%, to $594.7 million from $555.8 million. The company continues to add new clients and is doing a good job of holding onto existing ones. Recurring fee revenue rose 10.0% in the latest quarter and accounted for 66% of the total....
FAIR ISAAC CORP. $92.85 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 31.1 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) makes FICO Scores, the program that dominates the market for software that businesses use to evaluate customer creditworthiness. Fair Isaac also profits by selling programs that help credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns. In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended September 30, 2015, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 5.0%, to $232.8 million from $221.6 million a year earlier. Sales at the company’s applications division (64% of the total) fell 1.6% on weaker demand for marketing and fraud-detection software. However, sales of creditscoring programs (25%) jumped 24.5%, while sales of analytics software (11%) gained 8.7%....
REITMANS (CANADA) LTD. $4.07 (Toronto symbol RET.A; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-384- 1140; www.reitmans.com; Shares outstanding: 64.6 million; Market cap: $254.5 million; Dividend yield: 4.9%) owns 775 women’s clothing stores across Canada. The chain consists of 332 Reitmans, 136 Penningtons, 107 Addition Elle, 83 RW & Co., 68 Thyme Maternity, 17 HYBA and 32 Smart Set outlets. It also has 21 Thyme Maternity boutiques in Canadian Babies “R” Us stores. On October 8, 2015, the company opened its 17 new HYBA women’s activewear stores across Canada. Activewear is one of the country’s fastest growing clothing categories....