Search

BMTC GROUP $16.25 (Toronto symbol GBT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-648-5757; No website; Shares outstanding: 43.1 million; Market cap: $799.9 million; Dividend yield: 1.5%) recently received shareholder approval for its plan to simplify its capital structure by moving from two share classes to one. As a result, it has converted all of its class A (one vote per share) and B shares (20 votes per share) into a single class of common shares (one vote per share).

The common shares trade on the Toronto exchange under the new GBT symbol.

Meanwhile, BMTC earned $59,000, or nil per share, in the quarter ended March 31, 2015, compared to a loss of $1.5 million, or $0.03 a share, a year earlier. Sales rose 2.9%, to $149.3 million from $145.1 million. Same-store sales gained 1.6%.

...

WESTJET AIRLINES $26.90 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(1- 877-493-7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 127.8 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%) continues to benefit as lower oil prices cut its fuel costs. Fuel typically accounts for a third of the airline’s operating expenses.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, WestJet’s earnings per share gained 58.0%, to $1.09 from $0.69. Revenue rose 4.0%, to $1.08 billion from $1.04 billion.

The company’s load factor fell to 81.6% from 83.1% (load factor is the percentage of available seats occupied by paying passengers). However, revenue from other sources jumped 63.9% after WestJet began charging a $25 fee for each checked bag on its domestic and U.S.-bound routes in the fourth quarter of 2014. It also added new planes to its fleet, increasing its capacity by 4.7%.

...

TEMPUR SEALY $60.78 (New York symbol TPX; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative)(800-878-8889; www.tempursealy.com; Shares outstanding: 61.0 million; Market cap: $3.8 billion; No dividends paid) completed its $1.3- billion purchase of rival Sealy in 2013. This was a major acquisition for Tempur Sealy (formerly Tempur- Pedic), but it has let the company diversify into traditional spring-coil beds.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Tempur Sealy’s earnings rose 4.6%, to $34.1 million from $32.6 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings gained 3.8%, to $0.55 from $0.53, on more shares outstanding. Excluding the effect of a higher U.S. dollar, earnings per share jumped 20%.

Sales gained 5.4%, to $739.5 million from $701.9 million. North American sales (80% of the total) rose 7.5%, but international sales (20% of total revenue) fell 2.6%.

...

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE $86.49 (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.

Wyndham also manages vacation resorts, rental properties, luxury clubs and time-shares. The company now has 109,000 vacation-rental properties in 100 countries.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Wyndham’s revenue rose 5.8%, to $1.26 billion from $1.19 billion a year earlier. The company gets most of its revenue from vacation rather than business travel, and vacation bookings rose in the latest quarter. That helped increase its occupancy rate by 0.6%.

...

NISSAN MOTOR (ADR) $21.01 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissan-global.com; Shares outstanding 2.3 billion; Market cap: $47.7 billion; Dividend yield: 2.8%) is Japan’s secondlargest automaker, after Toyota.

In April 2015, the company sold a record 109,848 vehicles in the U.S., up 5.7% from April 2014. However, that missed the consensus forecast of a 7.7% gain.

Truck sales (44% of the total) rose 23.1%, thanks to new models such as its updated Rogue (up 44.5%) and Murano (up 72.9%) sport utility vehicles.

...

YAMANA GOLD $4.67 (Toronto symbol YRI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative)(416-815-0220; www.yamana.com; Shares outstanding: 941.5 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; Dividend yield: 1.6%) owns eight operating gold mines in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. It also holds a 12.5% stake in the Alumbrera copper/gold mine in Argentina and has a number of other properties in advanced stages of development.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s gold production rose 33.5%, to 304,874 ounces from 228,370 a year earlier. That was mainly due to its 50% stake in the Canadian Malartic gold mine in Quebec, which it purchased last year; this mine contributed 67,894 ounces to Yamana’s latest quarterly output.

The higher production helped offset a 6.4% decline in gold prices. As a result, Yamana’s cash flow rose 2.2%, to $96.0 million from $93.9 million. However, cash flow per share fell 8.3%, to $0.11 from $0.12, on more shares outstanding.

...

NEW GOLD $3.86 (Toronto symbol NGD; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (888-315-9715; www.newgold.com; Shares outstanding: 508.9 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; No dividends paid) has four mines: the Mesquite project in the U.S., Cerro San Pedro in Mexico, the Peak mine in Australia and the New Afton mine in B.C.

New Gold also owns 30% of the El Morro copper/ gold project in Chile, 100% of the Blackwater property in B.C. and 100% of Ontario’s Rainy River project.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s cash flow per share fell 27.8%, to $0.13 from $0.18 a year earlier. Gold production rose 4.0%, to 94,977 ounces from 91,317, but an 11.2% fall in copper output from New Afton, along with lower realized gold prices, cut New Gold’s cash flow.

...

CAMECO CORP. $19.24 (Toronto symbol CCO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk)(306- 956-6200; www.cameco.com; Shares outstanding: 395.8 million; Market cap: $7.8 billion; Dividend yield 2.1%) reports that its per-share profits doubled in the three months ended March 31, 2015, to $0.18 from $0.09 a year earlier.

Revenue rose 35.0%, to $565.8 million from $419.2 million. Uranium sales volumes rose 1.4%, while prices in Canadian dollars gained 4.3%.

Uranium’s outlook is improving: China is building 23 nuclear reactors and Japan plans to restart some of its facilities after the 2011 tsunami damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant.

...

CIMAREX ENERGY $116.31 (New York symbol XEC; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (303-295-3995; www.cimarex.com; Shares outstanding: 87.7 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion; Dividend yield: 0.6%) produces and explores for natural gas and oil. Gas makes up 69% of the company’s output; the remaining 31% is oil.

Cimarex’s properties are mostly in the Wolfcamp shale area of the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, as well as the Cana-Woodford shale region in western Oklahoma.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Cimarex’s production averaged 946.7 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent a day, up 27.9% from 740.4 million cubic feet a year earlier.

...

DEVON ENERGY CORP. $65.82 (New York symbol DVN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-235- 3611; www.dvn.com; Shares outstanding: 411.0 million; Market cap: $26.6 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 40% gas and 60% oil.

The company narrowed its focus with its July 2014 sale of some of its properties to Linn Energy for $2.3 billion. The deal included holdings in the Rockies, the onshore Gulf Coast and the Mid-Continent region (which includes Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas).

The sale lets Devon focus on what it views as lowrisk/ high-reward properties, especially the oilproducing assets it bought in Texas’s Eagle Ford shale formation for $6 billion in 2013.

...

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $88.07 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average)(415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 31.1 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) makes FICO Scores, the program that dominates the market for software businesses use to evaluate customer creditworthiness. Fair Isaac also profits by selling programs that help credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns.

In its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended March 31, 2015, Fair Isaac’s revenue rose 11.7%, to $207.1 million from $185.5 million a year earlier. The company saw higher sales at its applications division (65% of total revenue) on increased licensing revenue from software that detects bank fraud. Sales of credit scoring software and programs for analyzing large amounts of a business’s data were up 4%.

The company earned $18.9 million, down 9.1% from $20.8 million. It spent more on research and marketing, and that hurt its profits. Earnings per share were unchanged at $0.60 on fewer shares outstanding.

...

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $55.54 New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 120.9 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; Dividend yield: 2.0%) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada.

Without one-time items, Broadridge earned $58.8 million, or $0.47 a share, in its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended March 31, 2015. That’s up 6.7% from $55.1 million, or $0.44 a share, a year earlier. The company continues to add new clients and is doing a good job of holding on to existing ones.

Broadridge typically makes about half of its profits in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ends June 30. That’s the busiest period for processing proxies and annual reports for its clients.

...

GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER $31.26 (Nasdaq symbol GT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (330- 796-2122; www.goodyear.com; Shares outstanding: 269.8 million; Market cap: $8.4 billion; Dividend yield: 0.8%) is the world’s largest tire maker, with 52 plants in 22 countries.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2015, Goodyear’s sales fell 10.0%, to $4.02 billion from $4.47 billion a year earlier. The rising U.S. dollar lowered the value of the company’s foreign sales.

Excluding one-time items, earnings per share fell 3.6%, to $0.54 from $0.56, but that was much better than the consensus estimate of $0.44. Record North American earnings let Goodyear offset the effects of the higher U.S. dollar.

...

INTACT FINANCIAL $89.80 (Toronto symbol IFC; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-341-1464; www.intactfc.com; Shares outstanding: 131.5 million; Market cap: $11.8 billion; Dividend yield: 2.4%) is Canada’s largest provider of property and casualty insurance. Its brands include Intact Insurance, Canada BrokerLink and belairdirect.

In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Intact’s revenue rose 5.3%, to $1.57 billion from $1.50 billion a year earlier. The company earned $186 million, or $1.37 a share, up 44.2% from $129 million, or $0.94.

The latest results reflect a $64-million reduction in catastrophic losses, mostly related to weather. That helped Intact report an improved combined ratio, or claims paid out divided by premiums taken in (the lower, the better) of 93.4%, down from 97.1%.

...

As hepatitis attacks 150 million people, Gilead has the leading drugs to fight it but also fights criticism that its prices are too high.

Our U.S. Stock of the Year for 2014, Newell Rubbermaid is up 30% and continues to grow on smart restructuring and key acquisitions.

By focusing on retail stores selling fertilizer and seed to farmers—in U.S. dollars—Agrium has made itself the #1 potash stock in Canada.

With one big contract lost, cuts in energy spending and older-generation rigs, Hercules Offshore faces a sharp decline in earnings.

Despite a takeover expanding its cloud coverage, Shaw Communications has a tough fight with Telus for Western cable and Internet dollars.

METRO INC. $36 (www.metro.ca) split its shares on a 3-for-1 basis in February 2015. That will improve the stock’s liquidity. The company also recently raised its dividend payout target to 25% of earnings from 20%. The current annual dividend of $0.47 a share (adjusted for the split) yields 1.3%. Buy.

RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC. $49 (www.rbi.com) is testing a new premium coffee blend from Colombia at five of its Tim Hortons outlets in Canada. The company hopes this new blend is as successful as its dark roast blend, which it launched in mid-2014 and now accounts for 15% of Tim Hortons’ coffee sales. Hold.

BOMBARDIER INC. $2.70 (www.bombardier.com) has 243 firm orders for its new CSeries passenger jet. If customers exercise their options to buy an additional 360 aircraft, the 603-plane total would be worth about $43 billion U.S. That’s equal to 2.1 times Bombardier’s 2014 revenue of $20.1 billion U.S....

p>CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $232 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 164.2 million; Market cap: $38.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 7.1; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cpr.ca) transports freight over a 22,000-kilometre rail network between Montreal and Vancouver, as well as hubs in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. The U.S. supplies 40% of its revenue. CP’s shares have soared 236.2% since we made it our Stock of the Year for 2012, when it was trading at $69. That’s mainly due to a major restructuring that has improved its efficiency with new locomotives, better tracks and software that optimizes train loads and speeds.

Speedier service boosted results

...

ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $46 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $46; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 115.1 million; Market cap: $5.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.atco.com) owns 50% of Torngait Services, a partnership with a Labradorbased aboriginal firm.

Torngait recently won a contract to provide support services to 1,000 workers building a line that will transmit power from Labrador’s Muskrat Falls to the island of Newfoundland. Under the deal, Torngait will supply catering, laundry and janitorial services until mid-2018.

The contract is worth $40 million to $45 million; using the midpoint of that range, ATCO’s share is worth $21.25 million. That’s small next to the company’s revenue of $1.2 billion in the quarter ended December 31, 2014. However, deals like this enhance ATCO’s already strong reputation and should help it win more contracts in this region. The class I (X) non-voting shares are more liquid than the class II (Y) voting shares.

...

p>MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. (Toronto symbols TPX.A $94 and TPX.B $99; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 185.9 million; Market cap: $18.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.molson coors.com) has paid an undisclosed sum for Mount Shivalik Breweries, which operates two breweries in India. As a result, Molson now has three breweries in that country. The company’s brewing expertise should make Shivalik more efficient. The move will also help it launch and distribute its own brands, including Coors Light, in India.

The class B shares have less voting power to elect directors than the class A shares, but they are more liquid and receive the same dividend.

...