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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.
TENNANT CO. $55 (New York symbol TNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 18.3 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www. tennantco.com) makes industrial floor-cleaning equipment, including scrubbers, sweepers and polishers. It also manufactures cleaning gear for garages, stadiums, parking lots and city streets.
The company continues to benefit from strong demand for products featuring its ec-H20 technology, which uses electricity to make tap water act like a detergent.
Tennant recently improved the effectiveness of this process with a new system it calls NanoClean, which creates millions of microscopic bubbles in the water. The company plans to add NanoClean technology to all of its commercial scrubbers.
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The company continues to benefit from strong demand for products featuring its ec-H20 technology, which uses electricity to make tap water act like a detergent.
Tennant recently improved the effectiveness of this process with a new system it calls NanoClean, which creates millions of microscopic bubbles in the water. The company plans to add NanoClean technology to all of its commercial scrubbers.
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CONAGRA FOODS INC. $40 (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 429.2 million; Market cap: $17.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.conagrafoods.com) paid $4.75 billion for Ralcorp Holdings, the largest private-label food maker in the U.S., in January 2013. However, strong competition and higher ingredient costs have hurt Ralcorp’s earnings. In response, ConAgra aims to sell Ralcorp by the end of 2015.
Excluding Ralcorp’s contribution and unusual items, ConAgra’s earnings rose 15.4% in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended August 30, 2015, to $0.45 a share from $0.39 a year earlier. Sales gained 1.1%, to $2.79 billion from $2.76 billion.
Consumer foods, such as Chef Boyardee canned pasta and Hunt’s tomato sauce, now supply 61% of ConAgra’s revenue. These products’sales fell 0.3%, as unfavourable currency rates offset higher selling prices.
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Excluding Ralcorp’s contribution and unusual items, ConAgra’s earnings rose 15.4% in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended August 30, 2015, to $0.45 a share from $0.39 a year earlier. Sales gained 1.1%, to $2.79 billion from $2.76 billion.
Consumer foods, such as Chef Boyardee canned pasta and Hunt’s tomato sauce, now supply 61% of ConAgra’s revenue. These products’sales fell 0.3%, as unfavourable currency rates offset higher selling prices.
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PFIZER INC. $33 (New York symbol PFE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 6.2 billion; Market cap: $204.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.1; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pfizer.com) started up in 1942 and is now one of the world’s leading makers of prescription drugs. Top-selling brands include Lyrica (epilepsy), Celebrex (arthritis pain), Prevnar (pneumonia) and Enbrel (rheumatoid arthritis).
The company is also the world’s fifth-largest maker of overthe- counter treatments, including| Advil (pain relief), Centrum (vitamins) and Robitussin (cough syrup).
Pfizer’s revenue fell 19.5%, from $61.6 billion in 2010 to $49.6 billion in 2014. That’s mainly because it sold its nutrition division, which makes formula and other products for children, to Switzerland-based Nestle S.A. for $11.9 billion in 2012. In 2013, Pfizer set up its animalhealth business as a separate firm called Zoetis Inc. (New York symbol ZTS).
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The company is also the world’s fifth-largest maker of overthe- counter treatments, including| Advil (pain relief), Centrum (vitamins) and Robitussin (cough syrup).
Pfizer’s revenue fell 19.5%, from $61.6 billion in 2010 to $49.6 billion in 2014. That’s mainly because it sold its nutrition division, which makes formula and other products for children, to Switzerland-based Nestle S.A. for $11.9 billion in 2012. In 2013, Pfizer set up its animalhealth business as a separate firm called Zoetis Inc. (New York symbol ZTS).
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc., $65.64, symbol WMT on New York (Shares outstanding: 3.2 billion; Market cap: $213.8 billion; www.walmart.com), has had a particularly steep downturn this year, from a January peak near $91, to an August low below $62. The drop began while the rest of the U.S. market was largely moving sideways. The company did have a slight earnings decline in its first and second quarters, somewhat deeper than anticipated. But the plunge in the stock seems out of proportion. The stock price drop may be related to Wal-Mart’s mid-February announcement that it would raise the minimum wage it pays in the U.S. from $9 to $10 an hour. Its $9 minimum rate was already $1.75 or 24.1% above the $7.25 minimum per hour that is federally mandated across the country. The raise only affects the company’s lowest-paid U.S. employees, but it still applies to 40% of its 1.3 million workforce. The company also said it would make scheduling of hours more predictable, tackling a long-time source of worker complaint. Some investors may have sold Wal-Mart because they feared the higher wages would cut too deeply into the company’s profits. However, this move may be wisely timed. The Obama administration has been using its regulatory power to help revive the long-standing downturn in U.S. union membership. Wal-Mart is non-union and wants to keep it that way. Then too, union activists and community organizers have been targeting a $15 an hour minimum wage. The company may also feel that demographic changes are likely to put upward pressure on wages these next few years in any event....