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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NCR CORP. $27 (New York symbol NCR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 169.9 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ncr.com) makes automated teller machines, cash registers, self-serve checkouts and kiosks for theatres and arenas. Private equity firm Blackstone Group (New York symbol BX) recently purchased $820 million worth of preferred shares that can be converted to common shares at $30.00 each. If Blackstone converted all of these holdings, it would own 17% of NCR. Blackstone’s expertise should help NCR expand its software and services businesses, which are more profitable than making ATMs and other equipment....
NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC. $45 (New York symbol NWL; Aggressive Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 267.1 million; Market cap: $12.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newellrubbermaid.com) is buying Jarden Corp. (New York symbol JAH), which makes a wide variety of consumer products, including Sunbeam kitchen appliances, Mr. Coffee coffee makers, Ball jars, Crock-Pot cookers and Rawlings baseball mitts. Jarden shareholders will receive $21.00 a share in cash plus 0.862 of a Newell common share. The offer is worth a total of $13.2 billion. Shares of Jarden are trading at 3.7% below the offer’s value, which indicates investors do not expect a higher bid. Newell expects to complete the deal in the second quarter of 2016....
CHEVRON CORP. $93 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $176.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.chevron.com) produced an average of 2.54 million barrels of oil a day (including natural gas) in the three months ended September 30, 2015. That’s down 1.1% from 2.57 million barrels a day a year earlier. The decrease is mainly because Chevron has sold $11 billion worth of less important businesses since 2014; the company aims to sell another $5 billion to $10 billion worth of assets by the end of 2017. In addition to the lower production, Chevron’s realized oil price plunged 51.7% in the latest quarter, while gas prices fell 43.4%....
NEWMONT MINING CORP. $19 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 529.1 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) is one of the world’s largest gold and copper producers, with major mines in the U.S., Peru, Suriname, Australia, Ghana and Indonesia. In August 2015, Newmont paid $821 million for the Cripple Creek & Victor mine in Colorado. This project will produce 350,000 to 400,000 ounces of gold a year once the company completes the mine’s current expansion in 2016. The Cripple Creek acquisition helped increase Newmont’s gold production by 16.1% in the three months ended September 30, 2015, to 1.34 million ounces from 1.15 million ounces a year earlier. Copper output surged 269.2% on higher ore grades at the Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia....