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Our latest update on two Canadian bank stocks, both of which have seen their international expansion plans bear strong results.

Our view on how Verizon, one of our best dividend stocks in the U.S., aims to hold off its challengers with two takeovers, including AOL.

Our take on how blue chip stock Fortis seeks to balance the risks and of growth by acquisition and keep its dividend rising.

When you look to buy Canadian dividend stocks, dividend yield is an important consideration but in some cases the yield can be misleading.

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $57.58 (Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couchetard.com; Shares outstanding: 567.4 million; Market cap: $32.7 billion; Dividend yield: 0.4%) completed its $1.7-billion acquisition of The Pantry in March 2015. The move added 1,500 convenience stores in 13 southern U.S. states, bringing Couche-Tard’s total to 7,848 locations throughout North America.

In Europe, the company operates 2,230 stores across Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), Poland, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Russia.

In the three months ended April 26, 2015, Couche-Tard’s sales fell 18.6%, to $7.29 billion from $8.95 billion a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars).

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MCCOY GLOBAL $4.53 (Toronto symbol MCB; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative)(780-453-8451; www.mccoyglobal.com; Shares outstanding: 27.7 million; Market cap: $128.2 million; Dividend yield: 4.4%) sold its heavy-duty truck-trailer unit last year and is now focused on its Energy Products and Services segment, which sells hydraulic gear, including power tongs, for drilling rigs. (Power tongs are large wrench-like tools that tighten and loosen the pipe in the drill hole.)

McCoy has international sales and service centres in Singapore, Dubai and Aberdeen, Scotland.

Profits up despite tough markets

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p>WAJAX CORP. $20.60 (Toronto symbol WJX; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (905-212-3300; www.wajax.ca; Shares outstanding:20.0 million; Market cap: $414.1 million; Dividend yield: 4.9%) sells and services cranes, forklifts and other heavy equipment. It also provides related parts (such as bearings, motors, hoses and fittings) and power systems (including diesel engines and transmissions). The company’s customers are in the natural resource, construction, manufacturing and transportation industries.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Wajax’s revenue fell 4.3%, to $317.2 million from $331.4 million a year earlier, as mining, oil and gas and oil sands firms made fewer purchases.

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ALAMOS GOLD $4.36 (Toronto symbol AGI TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-681- 2802; www.alamosgold.com; Shares outstanding: 127.4 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; No dividends paid) is the company formed by the merger of Alamos Gold and Stock Pickers Digest recommendation AuRico Gold.

The combined firm owns the Mulatos mine in Mexico and the Young-Davidson project in northern Ontario, which holds as much as 5.6 million ounces of gold. Young- Davidson started up in 2013 and will reach full production in 2016. But meanwhile, it’s moving from open-pit to underground mining, which will sharply increase its costs.

Alamos Gold holds cash of $358.0 million, which it will use to fund the Young-Davidson mine and boost the combined firm’s gold output from 400,000 ounces this year to 700,000 in 2018.

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RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL $39.97 (New York symbol QSR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (905-845-6511; www.rbi.com; Shares outstanding: 467.0 million; Market cap: $18.47billion; Dividend yield: 1.0%) took its current form on December 12, 2014, after Burger King Worldwide acquired Tim Hortons.

Burger King successfully launched six new meatless burgers at its outlets in India last year. As a result, it’s now considering expanding its vegetarian menu outside of that country.

Meatless burgers have sold poorly in the U.S. and other developed nations in the past. However, interest in vegetarianism is rising. Offering meatless products also makes it more likely that families with one or more vegetarians will visit Burger King instead of looking elsewhere for vegetarian options.

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AEROPOSTALE INC. $1.51 (New York symbol ARO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(646-485-5410; www.aeropostale.com; Shares outstanding: 79.5 million; Market cap: $121.7 million; No dividends paid) plans to open licensed stores in India and Indonesia under agreements with Arvind Lifestyle Brands Ltd. in India and PT Mitra Adiperkasa TBK in Indonesia.

In India, the plan includes 50 stand-alone outlets, 150 in-store shops in select locations and the launch of e-commerce operations over the next five years, beginning in March 2016.

In Indonesia, Aeropostale expects to open 10 to 12 stand-alone stores over the next five years, with its first outlet opening in Jakarta in late 2016.

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WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE $87.29 (New York symbol WYN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (973- 753-6000; www.wyndhamworldwide.com; Shares outstanding: 120.0 million; Market cap: $10.4 billion; Dividend yield: 1.9%) is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, with 7,670 franchised hotels worldwide.

In addition to hotels, Wyndham manages vacation resorts, rental properties, luxury clubs and time-shares. This wide range of operations gives it more consistent cash flow than most of its competitors, which mainly focus on hotels.

Wyndham has just bought ResortQuest Whistler, which manages nearly 600 vacation properties at the popular ski resort, for an undisclosed amount. ResortQuest’s properties are fully furnished and offer amenities like full kitchens, fireplaces and large living areas. This is Wyndham’s first acquisition in Canada.

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p>DOMINO’S PIZZA $112.31 (New York symbol DPZ; TSINetwork Rating: Average)(734-930-3008; www.dominos.com; Shares outstanding: 55.2 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; Dividend yield: 1.1%) reports that its earnings per share jumped 20.9% in the three months ended June 14, 2015, to $0.81 from $0.67 a year earlier. Sales gained 8.5%, to $488.6 million from $450.5 million. Same-store sales rose 6.7% internationally—but more importantly, they increased 12.8% in the U.S., home to most of the company’s stores.

The company’s outlook is positive, and it continues to profit from its move into online ordering and smartphone apps. However, the stock is up over 52% for us in the past year. Domino’s now trades at a high 32.8 times its forecast 2015 earnings of $3.42 a share.

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ALARMFORCE INDUSTRIES $10.55 (Toronto symbol AF; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-800- 267-2001; www.alarmforce.com; Shares outstanding: 11.6 million; Market cap: $122.7 million; Dividend yield: 1.7%) sells twoway voice-alarm systems and monitoring services in Canada and increasingly in the U.S.

In the three months ended April 30, 2015, Alarm- Force’s sales rose 6.5%, to $14.0 million from $13.2 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were unchanged at $0.15. Sales gained along with the company’s subscriber base and higher monthly revenue per subscriber. Earnings were flat because it spent more on product development and marketing.

In August 2014, the company launched AlarmForce Connect, an add-on service that lets subscribers control their home-security systems with a smartphone or tablet. About 40% of its subscribers have since added AlarmForce Connect.

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AGT FOOD & INGREDIENTS $32.29 (Toronto symbol AGT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (604-231- 1100; www.alliancegrain.com; Shares outstanding: 23.1 million; Market cap: $719.3 million; Dividend yield: 1.9%) buys and processes a range of pulses—which include peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas—as well as other specialty crops.

Saskatchewan-based AGT owns 13 processing plants in Canada, nine in Turkey, four in Australia, two in the U.S., one in China and one in South Africa. In the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s revenue gained 23.7%, to $385.2 million from $311.3 million a year earlier. Before one-time items, earnings jumped 162.5%, to $0.42 a share from $0.16. The increases came from recent acquisitions and higher processing activity.

A big part of AGT’s success has come from its shift to more profitable products, such as ingredients and packaged foods, as opposed to simply cleaning, splitting and bagging bulk crops. Food makers use these ingredients in products such as baked goods, soups and beverages, as well as pet food and animal feed. The stock trades at 15.7 times the $2.06 a share AGT is expected to earn in 2015. It yields 1.9%.

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CALIAN TECHNOLOGIES $18.79 (Toronto symbol CTY; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (613-599-8600; www.calian.com; Shares outstanding: 7.4 million; Market cap: $137.1 million; Dividend yield: 6.0%) has won a $10- million contract with the City of Toronto to provide a software system for managing city employees’ hours. Calian will deliver this project over an 18-month period.

To put the deal in context, the company reported revenue of $61.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015, up 19.3% from $51.2 million a year earlier. Earnings fell 6.6%, to $2.21 million, or $0.30 a share, from $2.36 million, or $0.32. That was mostly because Calian added workers to fulfill new contracts.

This latest deal will add to the company’s revenue and demonstrates its ongoing ability to win recurring orders from all levels of government.

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SIERRA WIRELESS $31.67 (Toronto symbol SW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(604-231-1100; www.sierrawireless.com; Shares outstanding: 32.1 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; No dividends paid) makes modules that connect products—including smart electricity meters and vehicles—to the Internet. This is known as machine to machine, or more generally as the Internet of Things.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s revenue rose 24.1%, to a record $150.4 million from $121.2 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Sierra continues to add new customers.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned $7.2 million, or $0.22 a share, compared to just $483,000, or $0.02, a year earlier. Sierra sold more high-margin cloud-based services to large customers during the latest quarter. It also cut its costs.

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ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $80.73 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 497.6 million; Market cap: $40.4 billion; No dividends paid) makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. Graphic designers also use its programs to create print publications and web pages.

In its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended May 29, 2015, Adobe earned $0.48 a share, up 29.7% from $0.37 a year earlier. Revenue gained 8.8%, to a record $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion.

The company continues to shift away from selling software as a one-time purchase and toward a subscription model. It now gets 72% of its revenue from recurring sources, compared to 55% a year ago.

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NISSAN MOTOR (ADR) $19.78 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissan-global.com; ADRs outstanding 2.3 billion; Market cap: $44.5 billion; Dividend yield: 3.0%) continues to sell record numbers of its Rogue crossovers in the U.S.

In response, the company will export the model from Japan to North America beginning next spring. This will supplement current Rogue production from plants in Tennessee and South Korea.

Crossovers look like sport utility vehicles but have a car rather than a truck chassis. They’re among the top-selling vehicles in the U.S. right now. What’s more, the weak yen will let Nissan realize higher profits from Rogues it makes in Japan and sells in the U.S., compared to vehicles it makes and sells in the U.S.

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STUART OLSON INC. $6.11 (Toronto symbol SOX; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (780-454-3667; www.stuartolson.com; Shares outstanding: 26.2 million; Market cap: $161.9 million; Dividend yield: 7.9%) provides building construction, commercial and industrial electrical contracting, earth moving and industrial insulation services to government and private sector clients. It mainly operates in Western Canada.

An increase in construction work in Western Canada pushed up the company’s revenue by 5.4% in the three months ended March 31, 2015, to $282.9 million from $268.5 million a year earlier. Stuart Olson earned $1.0 million, or $0.04 a share, compared to $1.3 million, or $0.05.

The company ended the quarter with a backlog of $2.1 billion, up 5.4% from $2.0 billion a year earlier. Stuart Olson has now worked through most of the lowprofit- margin contracts it took on through acquisitions or agreed to when its markets were more competitive in 2009 and 2010.

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RUSSEL METALS $21.58 (Toronto symbol RUS; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (905-819-7777; www.russelmetals.com; Shares outstanding: 61.7 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Dividend yield: 7.0%) is one of North America’s largest metal distributors, serving 39,000 clients at 53 locations in Canada and 12 in the U.S.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Russel’s revenue fell 2.2%, to $903.9 million from $924.0 million a year earlier. The company’s metal-services business saw its sales rise slightly, but the energyproducts division, which supplies pipes for oil and gas drillers, reported a 14% sales decline.

Earnings fell 36.2%, to $18.5 million, or $0.30 a share, from $29.0 million, or $0.47. Russel’s earnings fell faster than revenue because steel prices declined in the latest quarter. That cuts the company’s profit margins and causes it to suffer losses on its inventory.

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IAMGOLD $1.65 (Toronto symbol IMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464-9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 391.3 million; Market cap: $688.8 million; No dividends paid) believes Burkina Faso’s upcoming parliamentary vote on an updated mining code will have no effect on its Essakane mine’s profits.

Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation in West Africa, is that continent’s fourth-largest gold producer; the precious metal accounts for about 20% of its gross domestic product.

The new code is expected to abolish a 10% tax break on miners’ profits. However, Burkina Faso will honour clauses in existing deals. As well, the new code should also end uncertainty surrounding the current 12-yearold mining regulations.

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AMERIGO RESOURCES $0.27 (Toronto symbol ARG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-681-2802; www.amerigoresources.com; Shares outstanding: 173.6 million; Market cap: $48.6 million; No dividends paid) processes copper and molybdenum from waste rock at Chile’s El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine. The rock comes from the mine’s current production and tailings from the nearby Colihues deposit. This contract runs at least through 2037.

Amerigo gets 94% of its revenue by processing copper. The remaining 6% comes from molybdenum.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Amerigo’s copper production fell 12.7%, to 8.9 million pounds from 10.2 million a year earlier. Molybdenum output declined 21.7%, to 97,883 pounds from 125,016.

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SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL $1.62 (Toronto symbol S; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-800-704- 6698; www.sherritt.com; Shares outstanding: 293.6 million; Market cap: $472.6 million; Dividend yield: 2.5%) sold all of its coal interests for $793 million in cash in April 2014.

The company is now focused on nickel production, with operations in Cuba and Canada. As well, it has a 40% interest in the Ambatovy nickel mine on the island nation of Madagascar, off Africa’s east coast. Sherritt also produces oil and gas in Cuba, Spain and Pakistan and manages 506 megawatts of power generation capacity in Cuba.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s revenue fell 31.4%, to $82.9 million from $120.9 million a year earlier, mostly due to lower oil and gas prices. Cash flow per share declined 32.0%, to $0.17 from $0.25.

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AMAZON.COM $488.27 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 465.7 million; Market cap: $227.3 billion; No dividends paid) continues to excel in a range of businesses; its shares are now at all-time highs.

The company is a major online retailer that’s growing quickly in new areas. For example, Amazon Web Services offers cloud services through 11 data centres worldwide. It accounts for just 7% of Amazon’s sales, but that’s growing at over 50% a year. However, when Amazon enters a new line of business, it’s happy to make little profit, or even lose money.

This is an appropriate growth strategy. Eventually, competitors will catch up with its technology and business practices. In the meantime, it focuses on building a large and loyal clientele.

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Our recommendation on a Canadian oil stock that has promising oil sands projects, but as yet no guarantee of success.