acquisition

QUAKER CHEMICAL CORP. $249 is still a buy. The company (New York symbol KWR; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 17.8 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.4; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.quakerchem.com) completed its acquisition of rival specialty chemicals maker Houghton International in August 2019....

Canadian finance regulators have instructed banks and other big financial institutions to freeze their dividends during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Manulife and Sun Life are in a strong position to resume regular increases when the crisis passes.


MANULIFE FINANCIAL CORP....

A: Ball Corporation, $95.75, symbol BLL on New York (Shares outstanding: 326.6 million; Market cap: $31.2 billion; www.ball.com), makes metal packaging for the beverage, food and consumer-products industries....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $44.36 is a buy. This established retailer (Toronto symbol ATD.B; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (www.couchetard.com; Shares outstanding: 1.11 billion; Market cap: $50.4 billion; Dividend yield: 0.6%) operates 11,988 convenience stores across North America and Europe.


The company has now agreed to buy Convenience Retail Asia for $360 million....

INTACT FINANCIAL $147.78 is still a buy. The insurer (Toronto symbol IFC; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (www.intactfc.com; Shares o/s: 143.0 million; Market cap: $21.0 billion; Dividend yield: 2.3%), in conjunction with Danish insurer Tryg A/S, has made a $9.3 billion U.S....

Here’s an Excerpt from a recent issue of Advice for Inner Circle Pro Members:


“The timing of downturns is largely random....

This leading software firm benefits from the significant number of people working from home during the pandemic—in fact, the stock is up a stellar 53% for our subscribers over the past year. We expect the remote-work trend to continue past the COVID-19 crisis and to spur rising demand for Adobe’s digital conferencing software and other applications....

Discover what to know when investing in stocks—for example, a history of dividend payments from well-established businesses is a great starting point

A: Caterpillar Inc., $167.04, symbol CAT on New York (Shares outstanding: 541.5 million; Market cap: $88.4 billion; www.caterpillar.com), is the world’s largest maker of earth-moving equipment, including tractors, scrapers, graders, compactors, loaders and pipe layers....

CGI Inc., Canada’s largest provider of computer outsourcing services, is a top stock for growth-seeking investors. That’s mainly because the company keeps building on its leading reputation with clients to retain and grow its customer base. And at the same time, its shift to a recurring sales model continues to boost CGI’s profit margins and cut the risk for its investors.

The company’s shares are down 28% from the all-time high of $114.49 they reached shortly before COVID-19 hit North America....