acquisition

A: WSP Global Inc., $40.00, symbol WSP on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 99.7 million; Market cap: $4.0 billion; www.wspgroup.com), is a consultant on engineering projects for public- and private-sector clients around the world. It employs about 34,000 people, mainly engineers, technicians, scientists, environmental experts and architects. It has more than 500 offices across 40 countries. WSP has a long history of using acquisitions to expand. As a result, its revenue soared from $651.0 million in 2011 to $6.1 billion in 2015. Mainly due to the costs of integrating these new businesses, the company’s earnings fell from $1.91 a share (or a total of $50.1 million) in 2011 to $1.15 a share (or $46.3 million) in 2012. Earnings then rose to $1.38 a share (or $71.7 million) in 2013. They then dropped again to $0.98 a share (or $62.8 million) in 2014....

A: Savaria Corp., $7.29, symbol SIS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 32.6 million; Market cap: $227.8 million; www.savaria.com), makes products for people with limited mobility. The company has two main businesses: Accessibility (87% of revenue) makes stairlifts, platform lifts and elevators for homes and businesses....

MITEL NETWORKS CORP., $9.11, symbol MNW on Toronto, develops and markets products for business telephone systems. It will buy another industry company—Polycom (symbol PLCM on Nasdaq)—for $1.96 billion U.S. in a friendly takeover. Activist investor Elliott Management Corp. has pushed Mitel to join with Polycom. Elliott, founded by hedge-fund manager Paul Singer in 1977, first acquired stakes in the two companies in October 2015. It now holds 6.6% of Polycom and 9.6% of Mitel. Mitel will pay $3.13 U.S. in cash plus 1.31 Mitel shares for each Polycom share....

J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO., $61.88, New York symbol JPM, is the largest banking firm in the U.S., with assets of $2.4 trillion. In the three months ended March 31, 2016, Morgan earned $5.5 billion, or $1.35 per share. That’s a 6.7% drop from $5.9 billion, or $1.45, a year earlier. Even so, earnings beat the consensus forecast of $1.26 a share. Revenue fell 3.0%, to $24.1 billion from $24.9 billion, but that also beat the consensus forecast of $23.4 billion....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $50 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 702.3 million; Market cap: $35.1 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 3.1; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) operates a 67,300- kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to Eastern Canada and the U.S. This system supplies 20% of North America’s natural gas needs. In 2015, gas pipelines provided 47% of TransCanada’s revenue and 54% of its earnings. The company also owns or invests in 20 power plants in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and the northeastern U.S. In all, these facilities have over 13,100 megawatts of generating capacity. This business supplied 36% of its 2015 revenue and 24% of earnings. The remaining 17% of TransCanada’s revenue and 22% of earnings came from its oil-pipeline business. The operations mainly consist of the Keystone pipeline, which pumps crude from Alberta to storage terminals in Oklahoma. The oil then travels on to refineries in Illinois. Keystone accounts for 20% of Western Canada’s crude exports to the U.S....

TransCanada recently had to write off its investment in its Keystone XL oil pipeline project after the U.S. government rejected the plan. Political pressure in Canada could also force it to cancel its huge Energy East pipeline. Despite these setbacks, TransCanada’s future looks bright. The company recently announced a big acquisition in the U.S. that should fuel its growth for years to come. As well, it will soon complete $13 billion of smaller pipelines and power plants. The projects already have long-term commitments from future customers. Those contracts cut the risk of these new ventures. TRANSCANADA CORP. $50 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 702.3 million; Market cap: $35.1 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 3.1; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) operates a 67,300- kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to Eastern Canada and the U.S. This system supplies 20% of North America’s natural gas needs. In 2015, gas pipelines provided 47% of TransCanada’s revenue and 54% of its earnings....

Flowers Foods Inc., $18.53, symbol FLO on New York (Shares outstanding: 212.3 million; Market cap: $3.9 billion, www.flowersfoods.com), is a leading maker of fresh baked goods, including breads, buns, rolls, tortillas and snack cakes. Its main brands include Nature’s Own, Wonder Bread, Whitewheat, Cobblestone Bread Co., Tastykake, Home Pride and Mrs. Freshley’s. The company has two major businesses: Direct Store Delivery (84% of 2015 sales) operates 39 bakeries that supply products to supermarkets, other food retailers and restaurants through 5,100 independent distributors....

WESTJET AIRLINES, $20.49, symbol WJA on Toronto, carried a record 5.3 million passengers in March 2016, up 8.4% from 4.9 million a year earlier. The company’s load factor rose to 83.2% from 81.3%. Load factor is the percentage of available seats that are occupied by paying passengers. Revenue passenger miles (the total number of paying passengers on each plane multiplied by the distance travelled in miles) rose 7.2% in the latest quarter....

FORTIS INC., $39.86, Toronto symbol FTS, owns electrical utilities across Canada and in the U.S. and the Caribbean. It also distributes natural gas in British Columbia. The company has completed its latest acquisition in northern B.C.—a 93.8% stake in the Aitken Creek natural gas storage facility. Fortis paid Chevron Corp (New York symbol CVX) $266 million U.S. for the underground complex. To put that in context, Fortis earned $589 million, or $2.11 a share, in 2015. BP Canada owns the remaining 6.2% stake in the B.C. facility. Currently, Fortis leases one-third of Aitken Creek’s capacity. Owning this facility should reduce the company’s costs....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $49.18 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 709.0 million; Market cap: $34.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.6%; www.transcanada.com) has run into difficulties lately in gaining approvals for new pipelines, including Energy East in Canada and Keystone XL in the U.S. However, the company has moved forward with its proposed acquisiton of Texas-based Columbia Pipeline Group (New York symbol GPCX) for $13 billion U.S. This is a big purchase for TransCanada, which has a market cap of $35.4 billion (Canadian)....