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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

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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.

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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.

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ENCANA CORP. $15 (Toronto symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 839.6 million; Market cap: $12.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) recently sold 98.5 million shares for $14.60 (Canadian) each, increasing the number outstanding by 13%. (All amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.)

As well, Encana has sold natural gas pipelines and compression facilities in B.C.’s Montney region for $461 million (Canadian).

It will use the total proceeds of $1.9 billion (Canadian) to pay down its long-term debt of $7.3 billion (as of December 31, 2014), which is a high 73% of its market cap.

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CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $22 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 824.5 million; Market cap: $18.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 4.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average) gets 35% of its revenue from its oil sands projects and conventional oil and gas wells in Western Canada.

Refining supplies the remaining 65% of Cenovus’s revenue. The company ships its oil to its 50%-owned refineries in Illinois and Texas. Phillips 66 (New York symbol PSX) owns the other 50% of these operations. These refineries help cut Cenovus’s exposure to falling oil prices, as cheaper crude cuts their operating costs.

Cenovus continues to expand its 50%-owned Christina Lake and Foster Creek oil sands operations; ConocoPhilips (New York symbol COP) owns the remaining 50%.

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p>BLACKBERRY LTD. $12 (Toronto symbol BB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 528.8 million; Market cap: $6.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.blackberry.com) is best known for its BlackBerry smartphones. However, competition from Apple’s iPhone and Android-powered devices has cut the number of BlackBerry users worldwide to 37 million from 85 million in 2013. (All amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.) The company also earns fees on software it installs on its clients’ email servers. These programs let its businesses and government clients manage their employees’ phones and encrypt sensitive data.

In response to its shrinking smartphone sales, BlackBerry has cut jobs and sold surplus real estate. If you exclude unusual items, the company lost $45 million, or $0.09 a share, in its 2015 fiscal year, which ended February 28, 2015. However, that’s a big improvement over its 2014 loss of $711 million, or $1.35 a share.

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p>FORTIS INC. $39 (Toronto symbol FTS; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 276.3 million; Market cap: $10.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.fortis.ca) is the main electricity supplier in Newfoundland and P.E.I. It also distributes natural gas in B.C. and operates power plants in other parts of Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean. Fortis plans to spend $9.0 billion to expand its operations over the next five years. That’s equal to 83% of its current market cap. Regulated utilities account for 93% of Fortis’s assets, so regulators will let it recover most of these outlays through rate increases.

Fortis is also looking at selling or spinning off its properties division, which consists of commercial real estate and 23 hotels. The company expects to make a final decision by June 2015.

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SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $39 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $58.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.suncor.com) produced 598,000 barrels a day in the first quarter of 2015, up 9.7% from 545,300 barrels a year earlier. The increase came from both its oil sands and conventional properties.

The oil-price drop has prompted Suncor to cut its planned 2015 capital spending by $1 billion, to between $6.2 billion and $6.8 billion. It also laid off 1,000 workers, or 7% of its workforce.

The company expects its job cuts and other cost controls to save it $600 million to $800 million in 2015, a year earlier than planned; Suncor’s cash flow was $9.1 billion in 2014.

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>TORSTAR CORP. $6.77 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 80.3 million; Market cap: $543.6 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 7.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.torstar.com) publishes The Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper by circulation. It also publishes three other dailies and over 100 weeklies. Torstar lost $49.6 million, or $0.62 a share, in 2014. That’s better than the 2013 loss of $58.0 million, or $0.73 a share.

These figures include costs related to job cuts and other measures Torstar took in response to falling advertising revenue at its newspapers. Since 2012, these moves have cut the company’s annual expenses by $60.4 million. Torstar expects savings to reach $77.1 million a year by 2017.

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TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $18 (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.1 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) is Canada’s leading printer of flyers, magazines, newspapers and books. It also publishes magazines and newspapers.

In its 2015 first quarter, which ended January 31, 2015, the company earned $36.1 million, up 36.7% from $26.4 million a year earlier. Earnings per share gained 35.3%, to $0.46 from $0.34, on more shares outstanding.

The gains mainly came from two recent acquisitions: in May 2014, Transcontinental bought U.S.- based Capri Packaging, a maker of plastic bags and pouches for cheese and other dairy products, for $146.1 million. And in June 2014, it paid Sun Media $78.8 million for 74 weekly newspapers in Quebec.

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THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $52 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 791.8 million; Market cap: $41.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) sells specialized information products in four main areas: financial (53% of 2014 revenue, 39% of earnings); legal (28%, 39%); tax (11%, 12%); and intellectual property and science (8%, 10%). (All amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.)

The Americas supplied 60% of Thomson’s 2014 revenue, followed by Europe (30%) and Asia (10%).

Many banks and financial services firms cut spending on the company’s products following the 2008 financial crisis. In response, it laid off staff and simplified its operations.

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POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $42 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 832.1 million; Market cap: $34.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.3; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) has suffered two recent setbacks. (All amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.)

First, the Saskatchewan government decided to change the timing of certain tax breaks for new potash mines and expansion projects. The province is also reviewing how it taxes potash producers.

Potash Corp. expects the new rules to cut its pre-tax earnings by $75 million to $100 million (Canadian) in 2015. To put that in context, it earned $1.5 billion, or $1.82 a share, in 2014.

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AGRIUM INC. $132 (Toronto symbol AGU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 144.0 million; Market cap: $19.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agrium.com) gets 75% of its sales and 60% of its earnings from its retail stores, which consist of 1,450 locations in North America, South America and Australia. These outlets sell seed, fertilizer and other products to farmers. (All amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.)

The company gets the remaining 25% of its sales and 40% of its earnings by making nitrogen-based fertilizers from natural gas. It also operates potash and phosphate fertilizer mines. In the past few years, Agrium has built up its retail business through acquisitions. In December 2010, it paid $1.2 billion for AWB Ltd., which operated 220 stores in Australia In October 2013, the company added 210 stores in Western Canada and Australia in a $485-million deal with Viterra Inc.

These acquisitions, along with rising fertilizer prices, pushed up Agrium’s sales by 49.2%, from $10.7 billion in 2010 to $16.0 billion in 2012. Declining fertilizer prices cut its 2013 sales to $15.7 billion, but they improved to $16.0 billion in 2014.

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SYMANTEC CORP. (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; www.symantec.com) sells computer security technology, including antivirus and email filtering software, to businesses and consumers.

In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended January 2, 2015, Symantec earned $367 million, unchanged from a year earlier. However, per-share earnings rose 1.9%, to $0.53 from $0.52, on fewer shares outstanding.

Revenue slipped 3.9%, to $1.64 billion from $1.71 billion. But if you disregard the negative impact of the high U.S. dollar on the company’s overseas sales, revenue was flat.

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Today’s tip: “Early experiences may lead you to prefer either value investing—trying to buy stocks at bargain prices—or growth investing—looking for rising stocks with further growth ahead. Here’s why you should combine the two. ” If you meet a large number of investors over a large number of years, it may seem they come in two basic categories—one inclined toward value investing, the other more interested in growth. This may be due in part to their early life experiences. Value investing—trying to buy assets at bargain prices—has natural appeal for those who grew up in strained economic circumstances. Growth investing—trying to identify and buy rising stocks when they have further growth ahead—seems to appeal more to those who grew up in prosperous households....

Alimentation Couche-Tard (symbol ATD.B on Toronto; www.couche-tard.com) operates 6,314 convenience stores throughout North America. Canadian outlets operate under the Couche-Tard and Mac’s banners, while the U.S. stores mainly use the Circle K brand.

In Europe, Couche-Tard operates 2,233 stores across Scandinavia, Poland, the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Russia.

In the three months ended February 1, 2015, Couche-Tard’s sales rose just 1.7%, to $2.33 billion from $2.29 billion a year earlier. The higher U.S. dollar cut the revenue contribution of its European operations.

However, per-share earnings jumped 64.5%, to $0.51 from $0.31. Couche-Tard saw higher profit margins on merchandise and fuel, and it continues to save on interest costs as it pays down the debt it took on to acquire Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail gas station chain, which it bought for $2.7 billion in June 2012.

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POWER CORP. $33.52 (Toronto symbol POW; Shares outstanding: 412.6 million; Market cap: $15.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Div. yield: 3.5%; www.powercorporation.com) is a diversified holding company. It holds its financial assets through 65.7%-owned Power Financial.

These financial assets include 68.1% of Great- West Lifeco, one of Canada’s largest life insurers, and 58.7% of IGM Financial, a leading Canadian mutual fund provider.

As well, Power Financial owns 50% of holding company Parjointco, which holds a 55.5% stake in Switzerland-listed Pargesa Holdings SA. Pargesa has 95% of its assets in five large European firms: Imerys (minerals), Total SA (oil), Pernod Ricard (wine and spirits), SGS (inspection, testing and certification services) and Lafarge (cement and building materials). Power Corp. also has investments in Asia.

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ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES $9.36 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 238.9 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.algonquinpower.com) reports that its revenue rose 26.3% in the three months ended December 31, 2014, to $259.3 million from $205.3 million a year earlier. Cash flow per share jumped 22.7%, to $0.27 from $0.22.

The gains mostly came from acquisitions, including California’s Park Water for $327 million U.S. in September 2014.

Growth by acquisition adds risk. But Algonquin cuts that risk by buying profitable utilities like Park Water. It also ensures that its renewable energy projects sell their power under long-term government-guaranteed contracts.

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MANULIFE FINANCIAL $21.51 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $42.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.9%; www.manulife.ca) sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services.

In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Manulife’s earnings per share gained 2.9%, to $0.36 from $0.35 a year earlier. Revenue fell slightly, to $7.15 billion from $7.18 billion.

At the end of 2014, Manulife had $691.1 billion of assets under management, up 15.4% from $598.9 billion at the end of 2013. A large part of the increase came from its late 2014 acquisition of U.K.-based Standard Life’s Canadian insurance operations for $4 billion.

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