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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.
As part of our three-prong approach to investing, we recommend investors spread their money out across the five main economic sectors: Manufacturing, Resources, Consumer Goods, Finance and Utilities. We also advise investing mainly in well-established companies, and downplaying stocks in the broker/media limelight. Due to recent stock market turmoil, investor interest in one of the less-volatile sectors—Consumer Goods—is rising. That includes the three Canadian retailers we analyze below. All are profiting from recent acquisitions, while their upgraded stores are attracting more shoppers. They’re also rolling out effective loyalty programs that spur repeat visits....
TECK RESOURCES LTD. $9.15 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 576.2 million; Market cap: $5.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teck.com) and Goldcorp Inc. (Toronto symbol G) have agreed to merge their copper projects in Chile into a new 50/50 joint venture by the end of 2015. The new venture will hold Teck’s proposed Relincho mine and Goldcorp’s El Morro project. The two properties are just 40 kilometres apart, so there are plenty of opportunities to cut overlapping costs. For example, the partners plan to transport ore from El Morro to Relincho for processing. It would cost $3.5 billion U.S. to build these mines and related infrastructure (Teck’s share is $1.75 billion U.S.). However, their combined reserves would last 32 years....
BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $59 (Toronto symbol BNS; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $70.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.scotiabank.com) earned $1.85 billion in its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended July 31, 2015, up 2.8% from $1.80 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 3.6%, to $1.45 from $1.40, on fewer shares outstanding. However, revenue fell 5.6%, to $6.1 billion from $6.5 billion, mainly because the bank sold most of its shares in mutual fund provider CI Financial (Toronto symbol CIX) in 2014. Earnings at the Canadian banking division (49% of total profits) rose 14.9% on improving loan and deposit growth. The international division (30%) saw its earnings rise 10.5%, thanks to strong loan demand in Latin America and favourable currency exchange rates....
PRECISION DRILLING CORP. $5.43 (Toronto symbol PD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resource sector; Shares outstanding: 292.9 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 5.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.precisiondrilling.com) provides contract drilling services to land-based oil and gas producers, mainly in North America, through 329 rigs. Even though low oil and gas prices have slowed drilling activity, demand for Precision’s Super Series rigs remains strong. That’s because these rigs can reach deeper pockets of oil than regular rigs. The company recently received a order for a new Super Series rig. As a result, it now plans to spend $546 million on new rigs and other upgrades in 2015, up 7.9% from its previous estimate of $506 million....