Search

RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC. $43 (Toronto symbol QSR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 467.6 million; Market cap: $20.1 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.rbi.com) is the world’s thirdlargest fast-food operator, after McDonald’s and Yum Brands, with 4,845 Tim Hortons and 14,669 Burger King outlets locations in 100 countries. The company recently announced that its North American locations plan to use only eggs from chickens raised outside of cages. The move will help enhance its appeal with health-conscious, environmentally aware consumers. It will also help it compete with other fast-food chains also switching to cage-free eggs. Farmers need time to adjust, so Restaurant Brands plans to complete the switch by 2025....

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $40 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 149.8 million; Market cap: $6.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) has won a contract from the United Arab Emirate’s state-owned aluminum company to supply engineering services to its two smelters. SNC did not say how much the deal is worth, but it should complete the work in July 2018. The company’s $12.7-billion order backlog, as of September 30, 2015, is equal to 1.3 times its annual revenue. However, oil and mining jobs account for a third of that total. Low commodity prices could force these clients to postpone or cancel these projects. SNC-Lavalin is a hold.

AGRIUM INC. $114 (Toronto symbol AGU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 138.2 million; Market cap: $15.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agrium.com) continues to benefit from its shift away from making fertilizers to selling them, along with seeds and other products, to farmers. That cuts its exposure to volatile bulk-fertilizer prices. In 2015, Agrium’s 1,250 retail stores in North America, South America and Australia supplied 82% of its sales, and 70% of its earnings. The remaining 18% of sales and 30% of earnings came from making nitrogen-based fertilizers from natural gas. Agrium also operates potash and phosphate fertilizer mines....

TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $50 (www.td.com) owns 41.54% of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (Nasdaq symbol AMTD), one of the largest online brokerage firms in the U.S. TD expects Ameritrade will contribute $109 million (Canadian) to its earnings in its 2016 first quarter, which ended January 31, 2016, up 21.1% from $90 million a year earlier....

ATCO INC. $38 (www.atco.com) has increased its quarterly dividend by 15.2%, to $0.285 a share from $0.2475. The new annual rate of $1.14 yields 3.0%. ATCO has now raised the rate each year for the past 22 years. Best Buy.

An RRSP meltdown strategy sounds like a great way to collapse an RRSP without paying taxes—but in reality it’s a lot riskier than it sounds.

Revenue for DIRTT Environmental Solutions climbs on strong U.S. dollar and new clients in financial services

Investing in the best dividend stocks is key to your long-term investment results. Here are six tips to help you find them.

Birchcliff Energy will cut spending on oil exploration and development by 45% to protect cash flow in this down market

Amex revenue fell 4% last year but a plan to sell its Costco loans and reduce expenses by $1 billion should raise earnings

NISSAN MOTOR CO. ADR $19.90 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissanmotors.com; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $45.8 billion; No dividends paid) reported that its earnings rose 3.2% in the three months ended December 31, 2011, to 82.7 billion yen ($1.07 billion U.S.) from 80.1 billion yen ($1.04 billion U.S.) a year earlier.

That’s a particularly strong performance in light of the fact that flooding in Thailand cut Nissan’s production by 33,000 vehicles in the quarter. The strong yen also hurt the company’s profits from overseas sales. Even so, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of 71.7 billion yen.

Nissan’s sales are rising in all of its markets outside Japan, including Europe and the U.S., as well as China and emerging markets like India, Russia and Brazil. Overall, the car-maker sold 1.2 million vehicles during the quarter, up 19.5% from a year earlier.

...

These 13 tips will let you create a list of penny stocks that will help you generate investment profits.

Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund had debt equal to 87% of its market cap, but double-digit revenue growth is keeping cash flow steady

General Electric Co. is selling 90% of the assets of its financing division. That should free up capital for new joint venture deals focused on renewable energy projects and nuclear power equipment. The company will also use the cash to pay for a $50 billion share buyback. GE is a buy.
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. (New York symbol GE; www.ge.com has agreed to sell $157 billion in assets of its GE Capital financing division. So far, it has completed transactions equalling $104 billion.
...

Spot the most undervalued stocks in three steps and by using these nine financial, safety and growth factors

Asset allocation funds aim to improve returns and/or reduce risk by switching back and forth among stocks, bonds and cash. We think they are likely to hurt your portfolio returns rather than enhance them.

ISHARES MSCI GERMANY FUND $24.15 (New York symbol EWG; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the stocks in the MSCI Germany Index. This index aims to replicate 85% of the market capitalization of the German stock market. The remaining 15% is unavailable for investment, partly due to limitations on foreign ownership. The ETF’s top holdings are Bayer (diversified chemicals), 8.9%; SAP (software), 7.6%; Siemens (engineering conglomerate), 7.3%; Allianz (insurance), 7.1%; Daimler (automobiles), 6.5%; BASF (chemicals), 5.9%; Deutsche Telekom, 5.5%; Munich Reinsurance, 3.1%; BMW AG, 2.7%; Fresenius (health care), 2.5%; Linde AG (industrial gases), 2.4%; Deutsche Bank AG, 2.4%; and Deutsche Post AG, 2.3%....

POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $101.65 (Nasdaq symbol QQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www. invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks representing the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest companies on the Nasdaq exchange by market cap. The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial firms. The fund’s MER is about 0.20%. It yields 1.4%. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, 10.9%; Alphabet Inc., 10.2%; Microsoft, 8.8%; Amazon.com, 5.4%; Facebook, 5.4%; Intel Corp., 2.9%; Comcast, 2.8%; Gilead Sciences, 2.5%; Cisco Systems, 2.4%; and Qualcomm, 1.3%....

SPDR S&P 500 ETF $191.30 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. companies chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group. The fund’s MER is just 0.10%, and it yields 2.5%. The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, 3.2%; Microsoft, 2.6%; Alphabet, 2.6%; Exxon- Mobil, 1.9%; Johnson & Johnson, 1.7%; General Electric, 1.6%; Facebook, 1.5%; Berkshire Hathaway, 1.4%; Wells Fargo & Co., 1.4%; Amazon.com, 1.3%; AT&T, 1.3%; Procter & Gamble, 1.3%; and JPMorgan Chase, 1.3%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF is a top ETF pick for 2016.

ISHARES CANADIAN SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX ETF $20.37 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highestyielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of the ETF’s assets. The fund’s MER is 0.55%, and it yields 5.0%. Its top holdings are CIBC, 9.7%; Bank of Montreal, 7.4%; Royal Bank, 6.8%; BCE, 6.5%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.6%; Rogers Communications, 5.2%; Laurentian Bank of Canada, 5.0%; Manitoba Telecom, 5.0%; TD Bank, 4.7%; IGM Financial, 4.4%; and TransCanada Corp., 4.4%. The ETF holds 58.6% of its assets in financial stocks. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects, but if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector....

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF $18.65 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. The ETF’s MER is just 0.18% of assets, and the units yield 3.2%. The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include. The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.7%; TD Bank, 8.0%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.6%; CN Railway, 4.8%; BCE, 4.0%; Bank of Montreal, 3.9%; Suncor Energy, 3.8%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 3.5%; Enbridge Inc., 3.3%; and Manulife Financial Corp., 3.1%....

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY $159.03 (Toronto symbol CP; Shares outstanding: 153.8 million; Market cap: $25.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 0.9%; www.cpr.ca) reported 5.9% lower freight volumes in the latest quarter, mainly because of falling prices for oil, minerals and other commodities. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, CP earned $419 million, down 8.9% from $460 million a year earlier. However, per-share earnings gained 1.5%, to $2.72 from $2.68, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue fell 4.1%, to $1.69 billion from $1.76 billion. Still, revenue from forest products jumped 20.4%, and fertilizer shipments rose 18.0%....

ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $32.83 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 78.3 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.6%; www.alliedreit.com) owns 147 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 10.5 million square feet of leasable area. Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century industrial buildings that have been converted to retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $25.02 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 320.4 million; Market cap: $7.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.6%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, RioCan’s cash flow rose 5.0%, to $140.2 million from $133.6 million a year earlier. Per-unit cash flow gained 2.3%, to $0.44 from $0.43, on more units outstanding. The trust has now agreed to sell its 49 U.S. malls for $1.2 billion (Canadian). It expects to complete the sale in April 2016....

TORSTAR $2.21 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.9 million; Market cap: $182.1 million; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 11.8%; www.torstar.com) will close its money-losing printing plant in Vaughan, Ontario, just north of Toronto, in July 2016. It will then transfer printing of The Toronto Star newspaper to Transcontinental Inc. Torstar will also sell the Vaughan plant and land. This will help offset its closing costs. It will also give it more cash for Star Touch, the tablet-newspaper app it launched in October. So far, more than 200,000 users have downloaded Star Touch, which uses technology licensed from Montreal’s La Presse newspaper. The app should help Torstar attract younger readers and sell more online ads....