Latest Stock Advice
Signet Jewelers Ltd. is still subject to changes in consumer confidence, but it’s making smart moves to spur growth
Sun Life Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp. each offers a combination of solid earnings growth, ongoing share repurchases, and impressive dividend yields.
Top pick Yum Brands Inc. gives you sales growth, steady EPS growth, and a solid dividend
Nutrien Ltd. offers exposure to potash and nitrogen prices, a stable retail base and strong profitability.
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ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $87.94 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 498.8 million; Market cap: $44.4 billion; No dividends paid) makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. Graphic designers also use its programs to create print publications and web pages. In its fiscal 2015 fourth quarter, which ended November 27, 2015, Adobe earned $0.62 a share, up 59.0% from $0.39 a year earlier. Revenue jumped 21.7%, to a record $1.31 billion from $1.07 billion. In the latest quarter, the company added 833,000 Creative Cloud subscribers (net of cancellations). This service now has 6.2 million users, up 78.6% from a year ago. Adobe is also seeing strong demand for its newer cloud-based offerings, including Document Cloud, which lets users create, manage and sign online documents for a monthly fee....
ACI WORLDWIDE $18.83 (Nasdaq symbol ACIW; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (402-390-7600; www.aciworldwide.com; Shares outstanding: 118.3 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; No dividends paid) makes software for processing transactions involving credit cards, debit cards, automated teller machines, point-of-sale terminals and interbank payments. Its products also help cut fraud. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, ACI’s revenue fell 4.3% to $238.7 million from $249.6 million a year earlier. Earnings declined 6.1%, to $14.8 million, or $0.13 a share, from $15.7 million, or $0.14. The higher U.S. dollar cut revenue and earnings at the company’s international operations. ACI is benefiting from the shift to chip-and-PIN debit and credit cards. That migration is the result of a liability shift for the EMV (EuroPay, MaterCard and VISA) payment networks, which came into effect in October 2015....
FAIR ISAAC CORP. $85.25 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 31.1 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) spends around 12% of its revenue on research, which lets it keep ahead of the competition. For example, it recently incorporated new data into its software. Previously, FICO Scores didn’t distinguish between people who carry balances on their credit cards (higher credit risk) and those who’ve never had a credit card but pay their cable, cellphone, electric, water and other bills every month (lower risk). In addition, the company plans to add information people publicly share on social media websites like Facebook. Both moves should make FICO Scores more accurate....
IAMGOLD $1.84 (Toronto symbol IMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464-9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 391.4 million; Market cap: $660.9 million; No dividends paid) owns 41% of the Sadiola mine and 40% of the Yatela mine, both located in Mali; 90% of the Essakane gold mine in Burkina Faso; 100% of the Doyon mine in Quebec; and 95% of the Rosebel mine in Suriname, South America. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, IAMGold’s revenue fell 27.6%, to $207.6 million from $286.7 million a year earlier. Cash flow per share dropped to $0.09 from $0.24. Lower gold prices and production caused the declines. IAMGold’s long-term production outlook is positive. Meantime, the company holds a high $730.2 million U.S. in cash and gold bullion. A large part of that cash came from the $500-million sale of its Niobec niobium mine in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region in early 2015. When used as an additive, niobium makes steel stronger, more heat-resistant and easier to weld....