Top pick Barrick Mining just raised its dividend a whopping 140% as it generates record earnings and continues its strategic asset reorganization.
Warner Music Group Corp. is well-positioned for higher-margin catalog revenues, added streaming adoption, and new AI monetization opportunities.
ARC Resources keeps returning its cash flow to shareholders through a growing dividend and substantial share buybacks.
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TORSTAR $1.76 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $127.3 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 14.8%; www.torstar.com) launched a digital version of The Toronto Star, its flagship newspaper, for tablet computers in September 2015. So far, Star Touch has attracted over 65,000 weekly and 26,000 daily users. The company spent $14 million in 2015 to set up Star Touch, and will spend another $10 million this year. It expects Star Touch will break even in 2017. Torstar is still a buy.
PENN WEST $1.17 (Toronto symbol PWT; Shs. o/s: 502.2 million; Market cap: $582.5 million; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; No dividends paid; www.pennwest.com) has sold oilproducing properties worth over $1 billion since the start of 2015. Even so, its debt is still a very high $1.9 billion, or 3.3 times its market cap. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Penn West’s production fell 20.3%, to an average of 77,398 barrels per day from 97,143. Cash flow per share fell sharply, to just $7.0 million, or $0.01 a share, from $137.0 million, or $0.28 a share. Penn West may still need to sell more assets to meet scheduled debt repayments. But without significantly higher oil and gas prices, those sales will further cut its already low cash flow....
ENCANA $7.75 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 849.8 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.1%; www.encana.com) continues to focus on its four key projects: Montney (B.C.), Duvernay (Alberta) and Eagle Ford and Permian (both in Texas). These fields produce large amounts of oil and natural gas liquids such as propane and butane. The company is now using its excess cash to pay down debt. That’s because Encana’s bonds are trading well below their face value due to weak oil and natural gas prices. Encana will now repurchase up to $400.0 million of those bonds by April 12, 2016 (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). That’s up from its earlier goal of $250.0 million....
RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $26.68 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 321.9 million; Market cap: $8.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.riocan.com) owns all or part of 305 shopping centres in Canada, including 16 properties under development. The trust pays monthly distributions of $0.1175 a unit, for a 5.2% annual yield. These payouts accounted for 90.4% of RioCan’s cash flow in 2015. However, 31.5% of the trust’s investors take part in its distribution reinvestment plan, so they get units rather than cash. On this basis, RioCan’s cash payouts were a more reasonable 62.0% of its cash flow. (If you want the units instead of cash, you still have to pay income taxes on your distributions for the year when you receive them.) This week, RioCan announced that with the April 2016 distribution, it eliminated the 3.1% discount it offered to unitholders who reinvested their distributions....