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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.
Capital Power Corp., $19.28, symbol CPX on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 101.4 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; www.capitalpower.com), is one of Canada’s largest independent power producers, with interests in 3,500 megawatts of generation capacity. In 2013, it sold its New England power assets to Emera for $541 million U.S. The company now has the bulk of its generating capacity in Alberta. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has called for the accelerated phase-out of coal power, both while she served as the NDP environment critic and more recently during the election campaign. Capital Power has almost 60% of its generating capacity in coal-fired plants in Alberta, so it would be very vulnerable to any move away from the fuel....
First Solar Inc., $48.01, symbol FSLR on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 100.9 million; Market cap: $5.0 billion; www.firstsolar.com), designs and manufactures modules for converting solar energy into electricity. The company makes its modules using a proprietary thin-film semiconductor technology it believes has a lower manufacturing cost per watt than traditional crystalline silicon modules. First Solar first sold shares to the public for $20 each in November 2006. Unlike many solar companies, First Solar is profitable, with forecast earnings of $3 a share this year. The stock trades at 16.0 times that estimate. The company’s balance sheet is also strong, with cash of $1.8 billion, or $17.86 a share, and just $257.8 million of long-term debt....
Taseko Mines, $0.67, symbol TKO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 221.8 million; Market cap: $150.8 million; www.tasekomines.com), owns 75% of the Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine in B.C. The company was also advancing the very large 100%-owned Prosperity copper-gold project in the central part of the province until November 2, 2010, when the federal government said it would block Prosperity on grounds that it would likely cause environmental damage to a pristine area. The decision was a surprise, given that the B.C. government had already approved the project. Taseko has now submitted a new environmental impact statement for Prosperity, but another ruling could take some time. Taseko’s share price now mostly reflects the value of the Gibraltar mine, with only a small chance of a positive future decision on Prosperity. The stock now trades at only 2.6 times this year’s forecast cash flow of $0.26 a share. There is also some room for expansion at Gibraltar....
Microsoft’s Nokia purchase didn’t work out well, but cloud computing helps it remain one of the leading blue chip stocks in the tech world