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THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $31 (www.thomsonreuters.com) has increased its quarterly dividend by 1.6%, to $0.325 U.S. a share from $0.32 U.S. The new annual rate of $1.30 U.S. yields 4.3%. Buy.

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $83 (www.cibc.com) earned $2.15 a share in the three months ended January 31, 2013. That’s up 9.1% from $1.97 a share a year earlier. The bank continues to expand its retail banking and wealth management operations....

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $33 (www. mtsallstream.com) reported that its revenue fell 3.5% in 2012, to $1.7 billion from $1.8 billion in 2011. That’s because revenue declined 8.3% at its Allstream division, which provides telecommunication services to businesses....

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. $70 (Toronto symbol CTC.A; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 81.1 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) operates 490 Canadian Tire stores, which specialize in automotive, household and sporting goods. The company owns these stores, but franchisees operate most of them. Canadian Tire also operates 299 gas stations and 87 Part Source auto parts stores.

In the past few years, the company has diversified its product lines by purchasing retailers with specialized products. These include Mark’s, which sells casual clothing though 386 stores, and Forzani Group, which sells sporting goods through 495 outlets, mainly under the Sport Chek banner. As well, Canadian Tire will soon complete its $85- million purchase of Pro Hockey Life, which sells hockey equipment through 23 stores.



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ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $63 (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $94.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) earned $2.1 billion, or $1.36 a share, in the three months ended January 31, 2013. That’s up 11.6% from $1.9 billion, or $1.22 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.4%, to $7.9 billion from $7.6 billion. Royal set aside $349 million to cover potential loan defaults, up 30.7% from $267 million. That’s mainly due to extra provisions on specific loans at its securities-trading division.

Low interest rates continue to spur loan demand at Royal’s retail banking operations in Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean. Strong results from the bank’s trading and wealth management divisions also contributed to the higher results.

Royal also raised its quarterly dividend by 5.0%, to $0.63 a share from $0.60. The new annual rate of $2.52 yields 4.0%.
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POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $41 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 864.9 million; Market cap: $35.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.3; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) aims to raise its stake in Israel Chemicals Inc. from 13.9% to at least 51%.

Israel Chemicals produces potash from minerals it extracts from the Dead Sea. Based on Israel Chemicals’ current stock price, this purchase would cost Potash Corp. around $6 billion U.S.

The Israeli government considers this a strategic resource, so Potash Corp. needs permission to buy more shares. Still, this investment would give it a greater stake in a high-quality potash deposit.
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BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.06 and BBD.B $4.06; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $6.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) has received a firm order for 32 of its new CSeries passenger jets from Russian aircraft leasing firm Ilyushin Finance Co.

If Ilyushin exercises its option to buy an additional 10 planes, the entire order would be worth $3.4 billion U.S. That’s equal to 20% of Bombardier’s 2012 revenue of $16.8 billion U.S. The company did not say when it would begin deliveries, as it is still developing the CSeries plane. It plans to begin test flights in June 2013.

The subordinate-voting class B shares are the better choice because of their slightly better liquidity and higher dividend yield.
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ANDREW PELLER LTD. $11 (Toronto symbol ADW.A; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 14.3 million; Market cap: $157.3 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.andrewpeller.com) reported that its sales rose 4.2% in the three months ended December 31, 2012, to $79.8 million from $76.6 million a year earlier. Peller has launched a number of new products, including its low-calorie skinnygrape wine.

Peller earned $6.6 million, up 5.1% from $6.3 million. Earnings per share rose 2.2%, to $0.47 from $0.46, on more shares outstanding. The company benefited from hedging contracts that it uses to lock in foreign exchange rates; that was the main reason for the higher earnings. Without these hedges, Peller’s earnings would have risen 0.5%.

Andrew Peller is a buy....

IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $43 (Toronto symbol IMO; Conservative Growth Portfolio; Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $36.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) has completed its purchase of 50% of Celtic Exploration Ltd. from its parent company, ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbol XOM).

Celtic owns large undeveloped shale gas deposits along the B.C.-Alberta border. These fields hold a total of 128 million barrels of oil equivalent. At the end of 2012, Imperial’s proved reserves totalled 3.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

The company paid $1.55 billion for its half of Celtic. That’s equal to 42% of the $3.7 billion, or $4.42 a share, that it earned in 2012.
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PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $4.90 (Toronto symbol PGF; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 511.8 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 9.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.pengrowth.com) produced 85,748 barrels of oil equivalent a day (60% natural gas and 40% oil) in 2012. That’s up 15.9% from 73,973 barrels in 2011. However, depressed gas prices pushed down its cash flow by 13.1%, to $538.8 million from $620.0 million. Cash flow per share declined 35.8%, to $1.20 from $1.87, on more shares outstanding.

The stock is down 50% in the past year. That’s because investors are concerned that low gas prices and Pengrowth’s high debt ($1.8 billion, or 75% of its market cap) will force it to cut its $0.04-a-share monthly dividend, for a 9.8% annualized yield.

However, Pengrowth’s rising oil production will cut its risk. It recently began work on its Lindbergh oil sands project, which will produce 12,500 barrels a day by early 2015. That will rise to 50,000 barrels a day by 2018. Moreover, Pengrowth has $4.5 billion in tax pools that it can use to cut its tax bill until 2017.
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PRECISION DRILLING CORP. $8.40 (Toronto symbol PD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 276.3 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.precisiondrilling.com) sells contract drilling services to oil and gas producers, mainly in North America. It ended 2012 with 321 active rigs.

The company is slowly expanding its international operations: it now has a total of eight rigs in Mexico and the Persian Gulf region.

In 2012, Precision’s earnings fell 72.9%, to $52.4 million, or $0.18 a share. It earned $193.5 million, or $0.67 a share, in 2011. If you exclude writedowns of older rigs, earnings per share would have declined by 12.9%, to $0.81 from $0.93.
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RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 300.1 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.8; Dividend yield: 5.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) is Canada largest real estate investment trust (REIT), with 294 retail properties, including 11 under development. It also owns 52 malls in the U.S.

RioCan continues to expand beyond suburban big-box-style malls. It recently formed a joint venture with Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (Toronto symbol AP.UN) to redevelop certain properties in Toronto as mixed-use office, retail and residential complexes.

The REIT has also agreed to pay $362 million for an enclosed shopping centre and 50% of another mall, both in southern Ontario. Enclosed malls now supply 16.1% of its Canadian rental revenue.
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HOME CAPITAL GROUP INC. $57 (Toronto symbol HCG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 34.6 million; Market cap; $2.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.homecapital.com) earned $222.0 million, or $6.38 a share, in 2012. That’s up 16.8% from $190.1 million, or $5.46 a share, in 2011. Low interest rates continue to fuel mortgage demand: revenue rose 12.3%, to $887.7 million from $790.3 million.

The company caters to borrowers who don’t meet the stricter standards of larger banks. Even so, it continues to do a good job of identifying problem loans before borrowers fall behind on their payments. Bad loans rose in 2012, but they still made up just 0.33% of its total loans, up from 0.25% a year earlier.

Home Capital Group is a buy....

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $32 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 755.8 million; Market cap: $24.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) had to write down its natural gas properties in Alberta due to low gas prices. That’s why its earnings fell 30.5% in 2012, to $1.14 a share from $1.64 in 2011. However, cash flow per share rose 11.1%, to $4.80 from $4.32, as it expanded its oil sands production by 35%.

The company’s oil refineries and low production costs should keep pushing up its cash flow, even if oil prices fall. As a result, we’ve upgraded Cenovus’s TSINetwork Rating to “Average” from “Extra Risk.”

Cenovus is a buy.

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EMERA INC. $35 (Toronto symbol EMA; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 131.0 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.emera.com) gets 60% of its revenue and 50% of its earnings from Nova Scotia Power Inc., which is that province’s main electricity supplier. It also holds interests in electrical utilities in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Other operations include the Brunswick pipeline, which pumps natural gas from the U.S. to a liquefied natural gas plant in New Brunswick.

The Newfoundland government recently approved a new hydroelectric project on Labrador’s Churchill River. Emera will participate in this operation by paying $600 million for a 29% stake in a new regulated utility that will transmit power from Churchill River to the island of Newfoundland. In addition, Emera will spend $1.5 billion to build an undersea cable (called the Maritime Link) that will transmit 20% of the plant’s power to Nova Scotia. Emera will own 100% of this cable. These two projects should begin operating by 2017.

Meanwhile, Emera earned $220.8 million in 2012, down 8.4% from $241.1 million in 2011. Due to more shares outstanding, earnings per share fell at a faster pace of 10.7%, to $1.76 from $1.97.
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FORTIS INC. $33 (Toronto symbol FTS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 191.6 million; Market cap: $6.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.fortis.ca) is the main electricity supplier in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. It also operates power plants in other parts of Canada, the U.S. and the Cayman Islands. In addition, wholly owned FortisBC Energy distributes natural gas in B.C.

Fortis should complete its takeover of CH Energy Group (New York symbol CHG) in the second quarter of 2013. CH supplies gas and power to 375,000 customers in New York State’s Mid-Hudson River Valley. Fortis will pay $1.5 billion U.S. for CH Energy, including assuming $500 million U.S. of debt.

In 2012, Fortis’s earnings rose 7.5%, to $322.5 million from $300.0 million in 2011. Earnings per share rose just 3.0%, to $1.70 from $1.65, on more shares outstanding. During the year, Fortis spent $400 million to expand its power transmission operations in Alberta. That was the main reason for the higher earnings. However, revenue fell 2.2%, to $3.65 billion from $3.74 billion. That’s mainly because warmer winter weather cut natural gas demand.
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ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $92 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $92; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 57.5 million; Market cap: $5.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.atco.com) is a holding company. Its main subsidiary is 52.9%-owned Canadian Utilities (see left). It also owns 75.5% of ATCO Structures & Logistics, which builds temporary buildings for construction companies and energy exploration firms; Canadian Utilities owns the remaining 24.5%.

In 2012, ATCO’s revenue rose 11.9% to $4.4 billion from $4.0 billion a year earlier. In addition to a higher contribution from Canadian Utilities, revenue at its structures division rose 24.8% due to new mines, such as the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan. Earnings rose 14.7%, to $375 million, or $6.48 a share, from $327 million, or $5.64.

ATCO continues to trade for less than the value of its assets; investors call this a “holding company discount.” Based on current prices, you can buy a share of ATCO for $92 and get roughly $93 worth of Canadian Utilities. That means you get ATCO’s non-utility businesses, which provide a third of its earnings, for free.
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CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $79 and CU.X [class B voting] $79; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 128.6 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above A v e r a g e ; www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta. It also operates 18 power plants in Canada, Australia and the U.K. ATCO Ltd. (see right) owns 52.9% of the company.

In July 2011, Canadian Utilities bought an Australian natural gas distributor for $1.1 billion. This move, along with an expansion of its power transmission grid in Alberta, continues to benefit the company. These new assets have also helped offset lower revenue from its Alberta power plants due to planned maintenance shutdowns.

As a result, the company’s earnings rose 13.1% in 2012, to a record $561 million, or $4.11 a share. The new Australian business contributed $26 million to that total. In 2011, Canadian Utilities earned $496 million, or $3.65 a share. Revenue rose 4.7%, to $3.1 billion from $3.0 billion.
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TORSTAR CORP. $7.00 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 79.7 million; Market cap: $557.9 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 7.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www- .torstar.com) continues to struggle with falling newspaper ad sales, particularly at The Toronto Star, its flagship paper. Strong competition and unfavourable foreign exchange rates are also hurting profits at wholly owned Harlequin Enterprises, the world’s leading romance novel publisher.

In 2012, Torstar’s revenue fell 4.1%, to $1.49 billion from $1.55 billion in 2011. Earnings fell 52.6%, to $103.2 million, or $1.29 a share, from $217.7 million, or $2.72 a share. If you disregard writedowns and other unusual items, earnings per share would have declined 25.0%, to $1.35 from $1.80.

To improve its profitability, Torstar continues to cut jobs and sell surplus real estate. Since 2010, these moves have cut its annual costs by $34.4 million. In 2013, annual savings should rise to $50.0 million.
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ENBRIDGE INC. $46 (Toronto symbol ENB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 806.5 million; Market cap: $37.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.enbridge.com) operates pipelines that pump crude oil and natural gas from western Canada to customers in eastern Canada and the U.S. The company’s pipelines handle around 65% of all western Canadian crude oil exports.

Pipelines supply 90% of Enbridge’s revenue. The remaining 10% mainly comes from distributing gas to 2 million consumers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State.

Enbridge’s revenue fell 22.7%, from $16.1 billion in 2008 to $12.5 billion in 2009, as the recession cut gas sales and prices. In 2010, the company started up the $3.5-billion Alberta Clipper pipeline, which pumps oil from Alberta to refineries in Illinois. That helped push up Enbridge’s revenue by 103.0% in 2012, to $25.3 billion.

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GREAT-WEST LIFECO (Toronto symbol GWO; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s largest insurance company, with $545.8 billion in assets under administration. It recently agreed to buy Irish Life Group Ltd., Ireland’s largest pension manager and life insurance provider....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stocks and other topics on investment and the economy from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle. This week, we had a question on one of the Canadian stocks that is making a transition to the Internet age. Cheque printer Davis + Henderson has moved aggressively to acquire software that performs vital functions for financial institutions. Pat looks at the potential risks and rewards of the company’s growth by acquisition strategy. ...

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (Toronto symbol REI.UN; www.riocan.com) is Canada largest real estate investment trust (REIT), with 294 retail properties, including 11 under development. It also owns 52 malls in the U.S. RioCan continues to expand beyond suburban big-box-style malls. It recently formed a joint venture with Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (Toronto symbol AP.UN) to redevelop certain properties in Toronto as mixed-use office, retail and residential complexes....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific advice on a wide range of investing topics. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental tip and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Tip of the week: “The fact that the share price has gone up or down is one of the least important reasons for selling a stock.”...

DEVON ENERGY CORP. (New York symbol DVN; www.dvn.com) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 61% gas and 39% oil....