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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.
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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Tax shelters in Canada aim to reduce or eliminate your tax liability, they are great ways for Canadian investors to cut their tax bills.
In some ways, stock buyback benefits are better than dividends. In particular, they give you a tax-deferral option that you don’t get with cash dividends.
Milestone Apartment REIT, $14.99, symbol MST.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 60.4 million; Market cap: $906.1 million; www.milestonereit.com), holds 61 “garden-style” apartment properties containing 20,232 units in 14 cities throughout the U.S. Southeast and Southwest.
Milestone continues to grow by acquisition. In the first half of 2015, it purchased buildings in Orlando, Atlanta and Kansas City for a total of $101.3 million (all amounts except unit price and market cap in U.S. dollars). In all, these properties contain 819 units. At the same time, the trust is selling older properties to improve the overall quality of its portfolio.
The REIT’s new properties increased its revenue by 22.8% in the three months ended June 30, 2015, to $54.8 million from $44.6 million a year earlier. Cash flow jumped 34.3%, to $14.9 million from $11.1 million. The trust sold units to fund these purchases. As a result, cash flow per unit rose at a slower pace of 20.0%, to $0.24 from $0.20.
As of June 30, 2015, Milestone’s occupancy rate was a high 95.2%, up from 95.0% a year earlier.
In August 2015, the trust agreed to pay $45.1 million for a 372-unit apartment building in Dallas. It expects to close this deal by September 30, 2015.
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Milestone continues to grow by acquisition. In the first half of 2015, it purchased buildings in Orlando, Atlanta and Kansas City for a total of $101.3 million (all amounts except unit price and market cap in U.S. dollars). In all, these properties contain 819 units. At the same time, the trust is selling older properties to improve the overall quality of its portfolio.
The REIT’s new properties increased its revenue by 22.8% in the three months ended June 30, 2015, to $54.8 million from $44.6 million a year earlier. Cash flow jumped 34.3%, to $14.9 million from $11.1 million. The trust sold units to fund these purchases. As a result, cash flow per unit rose at a slower pace of 20.0%, to $0.24 from $0.20.
As of June 30, 2015, Milestone’s occupancy rate was a high 95.2%, up from 95.0% a year earlier.
In August 2015, the trust agreed to pay $45.1 million for a 372-unit apartment building in Dallas. It expects to close this deal by September 30, 2015.
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Union Pacific Corp., $88.25, symbol UNP on New York (Shares outstanding: 867.7 million; Market cap: $76.2 billion; www.up.com), owns Union Pacific Railroad, the largest railroad in the U.S. by track miles and revenue. Union Pacific has 31,974 miles of track serving the western two-thirds of the country.
The company’s revenue mix is as follows: industrial, 20%; intermodal (merchandise in containers hauled by ship, train or truck), 20%; coal, 18%; agricultural, 17%; chemicals, 16%; and automotive, 9%.
In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Union Pacific’s revenue fell 9.7%, to $5.4 billion from $6.0 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 3.5%, to $1.38 from $1.43.
The railway saw 6% fewer shipments in the latest quarter; coal volumes dropped 31%, industrial products fell 14% and agricultural goods slipped 7%. Automotive shipments rose 3%.
The company faces a number of challenges:
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The company’s revenue mix is as follows: industrial, 20%; intermodal (merchandise in containers hauled by ship, train or truck), 20%; coal, 18%; agricultural, 17%; chemicals, 16%; and automotive, 9%.
In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Union Pacific’s revenue fell 9.7%, to $5.4 billion from $6.0 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 3.5%, to $1.38 from $1.43.
The railway saw 6% fewer shipments in the latest quarter; coal volumes dropped 31%, industrial products fell 14% and agricultural goods slipped 7%. Automotive shipments rose 3%.
The company faces a number of challenges:
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Dollarama Inc., $87.60, symbol DOL on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 127.9 million; Market cap: $11.2 billion; www.dollarama.com), is Canada’s leading dollar store operator, with 972 locations across the country. It aims to raise that to 1,200 by 2020.
The company has a strong position in a growing niche. It’s reporting rising sales and profits, and it continues to open new stores.
In addition, it has an alliance with El Salvadoran chain Dollar City, which gives it exposure to fast-growing Central American economies. Dollarama supplies its products and expertise to Dollar City, which has about 15 stores in El Salvador and aims to expand into neighbouring countries. Dollarama receives a handling fee in return and has an option to buy control of the company beginning in February 2019.
In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended May 3, 2015, Dollarama’s sales rose 13.0%, to $566.1 million from $501.1 million a year earlier. Same-store sales, which exclude the 73 locations the company opened in the past year, net of stores closed, gained 6.9%. Of that total, 5.9% came from larger transactions, while higher sales volumes accounted for the other 1.0%.
Dollarama introduced items priced at more than $1.00 in 2009 and has gradually rolled out many non-grocery products priced as high as $3.00. In the latest quarter, 73.2% of its sales came from goods selling for more than $1.00, up from 62.3% a year earlier.
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The company has a strong position in a growing niche. It’s reporting rising sales and profits, and it continues to open new stores.
In addition, it has an alliance with El Salvadoran chain Dollar City, which gives it exposure to fast-growing Central American economies. Dollarama supplies its products and expertise to Dollar City, which has about 15 stores in El Salvador and aims to expand into neighbouring countries. Dollarama receives a handling fee in return and has an option to buy control of the company beginning in February 2019.
In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended May 3, 2015, Dollarama’s sales rose 13.0%, to $566.1 million from $501.1 million a year earlier. Same-store sales, which exclude the 73 locations the company opened in the past year, net of stores closed, gained 6.9%. Of that total, 5.9% came from larger transactions, while higher sales volumes accounted for the other 1.0%.
Dollarama introduced items priced at more than $1.00 in 2009 and has gradually rolled out many non-grocery products priced as high as $3.00. In the latest quarter, 73.2% of its sales came from goods selling for more than $1.00, up from 62.3% a year earlier.
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D-BOX Technologies Inc., $0.34, symbol DBO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 163.8 million; Market cap: $54.9 million; www.d-box.com), has developed technology for enhancing the experience of movies, amusement park rides and training simulators.
The company mainly sells its products to movie theatre operators. Once they’re embedded inside seats, they cause them to sway and vibrate during the film. D-BOX also digitally encodes movies with the appropriate visual and sound cues, which its computer servers synchronize with the seats.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is D-BOX’s largest shareholder, with an 11.67% stake.
D-BOX has installed (or is contracted to install) its system at 402 screens in 29 countries. Its customers include large chains like Cineplex in Canada and Cinemark in the U.S. The company is also adapting its technology to home entertainment and video game systems.
In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended June 30, 2015, D-Box’s revenue jumped 57.6%, to $7.2 million from $4.6 million a year earlier. Revenue from theatre operators (67% of the total) rose 60.2%, while home systems revenue (5%) gained 48.9%. Revenue from industrial clients, such as amusement parks and simulators (28%), rose 53.2%.
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The company mainly sells its products to movie theatre operators. Once they’re embedded inside seats, they cause them to sway and vibrate during the film. D-BOX also digitally encodes movies with the appropriate visual and sound cues, which its computer servers synchronize with the seats.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is D-BOX’s largest shareholder, with an 11.67% stake.
D-BOX has installed (or is contracted to install) its system at 402 screens in 29 countries. Its customers include large chains like Cineplex in Canada and Cinemark in the U.S. The company is also adapting its technology to home entertainment and video game systems.
In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended June 30, 2015, D-Box’s revenue jumped 57.6%, to $7.2 million from $4.6 million a year earlier. Revenue from theatre operators (67% of the total) rose 60.2%, while home systems revenue (5%) gained 48.9%. Revenue from industrial clients, such as amusement parks and simulators (28%), rose 53.2%.
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