acquisition

AMAZON.COM $978.18 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (206-266-1000; www.amazon. com; Shares outstanding: 480.4 million; Market cap: $469.9 billion; No dividends paid) has reached a deal with the troubled Sears Holdings Corp. (symbol SHLD on Nasdaq) to allow the department store chain to sell its Kenmore- branded appliances on Amazon’s websites....

CHEMTRADE LOGISTICS INCOME FUND $18.66 (Toronto symbol CHE.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-496-5856; www.chemtradelogistics.com; Units o/s: 69.1 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Dividend yield: 6.4%) is one of the largest removal-service providers for resource firms that create acids and sulphur as byproducts....

FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $80.66 (Toronto symbol FSV; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 34.6 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Dividend yield: 0.8%) spun off its commercial real estate business, Colliers International Group, on June 1, 2015, and handed out shares to its investors.

Since the spinoff, FirstService has carried on with residential property management and its property improvement services for commercial and residential real estate.

In the second quarter, ended June 30, 2017, the company’s revenue rose 12.9%, to $434.9 million from $385.1 million a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S....

FORTIS INC. $46 (www.fortisinc.com) continues to benefit from its October 2016 acquisition of ITC Holdings, which owns 25,100 kilometres of high-voltage power lines in the U.S. Midwest. Fortis paid $7.0 billion U.S. in cash and shares; it later sold 19.9% of ITC to Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund for $1.2 billion U.S....

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $35 (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 128.6 million; Market cap: $4.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mapleleaffoods.com) sells fresh and prepared meats under the Maple Leaf and Schneider brands.

The company continues to benefit from a recently completed restructuring plan....

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $53 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares o/s: 175.4 million; Market cap: $9.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) saw its revenue fall 8.0% in the second quarter of 2017, to $1.9 billion from $2.1 billion a year earlier....

BCE INC. $59 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 870.7 million; Market cap: $51.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 4.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) completed its acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services in March 2017....

A: BSM Technologies Inc., $1.57, symbol GPS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: Shares outstanding: 82.4 million; Market cap: $131.9 million, www.bsmwireless.com), makes equipment and software that helps owners of truck, train and other fleets monitor their vehicles using global positioning systems (GPS).

Customers typically purchase the hardware upfront and then enter into a long-term contract for software updates and monitoring services....

BCE INC. $59.41 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 899.5 million; Market cap: $53.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.bce. ca) is Canada’s largest telephone service provider, with 21.9 million customers in Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces....

Dear safe-money investor:


TransCanada made its single-biggest purchase just over a year ago, with the acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group. The successful integration of that business has significantly strengthened the company’s profits. The next phase of TransCanada’s growth—specifically the $24.5 billion in projects now underway—should also yield big returns....