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It is important to note that some types of investments provide more security than others. Investors seeking safe investment options should look for well-established companies with hidden assets among other key characteristics.
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.
Groupe Dynamite Inc. is a high‑quality specialty retailer with gains ahead.
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Investing in agriculture ETFs could be a smart move if you choose the right investments for the right reasons
When investing in rare earth metals, you need to look at the unique geographical and political environment the mining company produces in.
WESTJET AIRLINES $15.18 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-877-493-7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 109.1 million; Market cap: $1.9 billion; Dividend yield: 3.7%) serves 100 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Its fleet of 108 modern Boeing 737s are 30% more fuel efficient than older jets. The company reported lower revenue and profits in the latest quarter. Weakness in the Alberta market offset the benefit of 25% lower fuel prices. Fuel typically accounts for a third of the airline’s operating expenses. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, WestJet’s revenue fell 3.6%, to $958.7 million from $994.4 million a year earlier. Earnings fell 30.1%, to $63.4 million, or $0.51 a share. A year earlier, they were $90.7 million, or $0.71 a share. Aside from the revenue drop, higher costs, including maintenance and salaries, contributed to the earnings decline. The latest quarter also included a pre-tax foreign exchange loss of $10.0 million....
SYMANTEC CORP. $19.97 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (650-527-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 675.5 million; Market cap: $12.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) has completed the sale of its Veritas Technologies subsidiary to the Carlyle Group (Nasdaq symbol CG). This business makes products for data backup and recovery. Symantec received $6.6 billion in cash ($5.3 billion after taxes). It also retained a $400 million equity stake in Veritas. Symantec has earmarked $2.3 billion of the proceeds for share repurchases it aims to complete by March 2017. The company has also lowered its regular quarterly dividend by 50.0%, to $0.075 a share from $0.15, because of the Veritas sale. The new annual rate of $0.30 yields 1.5%. It will, however, pay a special dividend of $4.00 a share on March 22, 2016....
COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL GROUP $44.51 (Toronto symbol CIG ; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-202-695-4200; www.colliers.com; Shares outstanding: 37.2 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion; Dividend yield: 0.2%) is one of the world’s top three commercial real estate firms, offering a range of services in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Latin America. Colliers continues to fuel its growth through acquisitions. Its latest is WPM Group NV, the leading property management firm in the Netherlands. The purchase price was not disclosed. Founded in 1987, WPM employs 180 people from five offices. Colliers will combine WPM with its existing operations in the Netherlands. The new unit will have 4.5 million square feet of real estate under management....
MITEL NETWORKS $9.69 (Toronto symbol MNW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (613-592-2122; www.mitel.ca; Shares outstanding: 120.8 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; No dividends paid) moved up recently after it announced that it now expects to report earnings per share of $0.27 to $0.28 in the fourth quarter of 2015, on revenue of $330 million to $335 million. The company previously forecast fourth-quarter earnings to a range of $0.22 to $0.27 per share on revenue of $315 million to $340 million. Mitel is increasingly moving from selling programs that are installed at its customers’ offices to a cloud model, where it keeps its software on its own servers and sells it by subscription. That provides steadier recurring revenue. The company added 152,000 cloud subscriptions in the 2015 third quarter and now has 1.76 million cloud users, up 69.7% from 1.04 million a year earlier....