Latest Stock Advice
Long-time favourite TC Energy Inc. yields 3.9% and generates stable cash flows from almost 94,000 kilometres of natural gas pipelines plus large-scale gas storage and power generation assets.
Stantec Inc. boosts its growth prospects with savvy acquisitions
Signet Jewelers Ltd. is still subject to changes in consumer confidence, but it’s making smart moves to spur growth
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.
Become a Successful Investor
Here’s How Dividend Capture Strategy Returns Work—and Whether You Can Realistically Profit from Them
Aiming for dividend capture strategy returns may look like a simple way to make money. But there are risks you need to watch out for
Some investors think that short-term stock trading will lead them to quick profits, but the opposite is more often true.
It pays to be wary of companies that use acquisitions to expand instead of internal growth. This strategy can work well at times, but one bad takeover can wipe out gains from a dozen good ones. Stanley Black & Decker is a good example of a company that grows by acquisition without taking on excessive risk. That’s because it has a long history of successfully merging new businesses and boosting their profits. That cuts the risk of a large writedown. Even though the stock has doubled since Stanley bought Black & Decker in 2010, we feel it still has plenty of gains ahead....
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....
The outlook for oil and other commodities remains weak, but we still feel that most investors should devote 10% to 15% of their portfolios to resource stocks. But only buy these or any stocks if you are prepared to hold them for at least the next several years. To further cut your risk, you should focus on companies with high-quality reserves, like the three we analyze below. All three are also reducing their costs, which puts them in a better position to profit when prices recover. However, not all of them are buys right now. 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....
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. Meanwhile, the company will use the cash to buy back $1.0 billion worth of its common shares through a Dutch auction process. Based on the initial response to the offer, NCR will repurchase 37.4 million shares at $26.75 each. That will cut the number of shares outstanding by 22%....