acquisition

Parkland Fuel will raise its dividend in 2016 and continue to expand with the purchase of 17 Esso stations and the franchise rights for On the Run convenience stores.

Envelope-maker Supremex rapidly expanded revenue and earnings through acquisition but also focused on a growing market—packaging for online shopping orders.

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO., $31.11, New York symbol GE, is in a strong position to profit as the U.S. government normalizes relations with Cuba. This week, the company and the Cuban government agreed to explore potential deals. For example, GE’s turbines and expertise would help modernize Cuba’s oil-fired power plants. It’s also likely the Cuban government will want to upgrade its hospitals with GE’s X-ray, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), ultrasound machines and other medical products. OUR RECOMMENDATION: GE is a buy....

KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $28 (New York symbol KEYS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 171.3 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.keysight.com) makes software for testing wireless equipment. Its clients include makers of computer chips (44% of total revenue) and communications gear (33%), as well as aerospace and defence firms (23%). Agilent (see page 33) spun off Keysight as a separate firm on November 1, 2014; shareholders received one Keysight share for every two shares they held. In August 2015, Keysight paid $588 million for U.K.-based Anite. This firm makes wireless equipment testing software. That should improve the performance of Keysight’s testing equipment....

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $40 (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 327.8 million; Market cap: $13.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agilent.com) makes testing equipment for medical research labs. In November 2015, the company paid $242 million for Seahorse Bioscience. This firm makes equipment that lab researchers use to measure cellular response to new drugs. That helps pharmaceutical firms develop new treatments for cancer and infectious diseases. The company also enhanced its product line by purchasing Cartagenia, a Belgian firm that makes software for Agilent’s medical-testing equipment. It paid $60 million euros for this business....

Loblaw Companies Ltd. has integrated Shoppers operations to cut costs, debt and grow earnings, but it will also close less-profitable food stores

Parkland Fuel Corp., $21.35, symbol PKI on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 94.1 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion, www.parkland.ca), operates gas stations, convenience stores and a fuel-distribution business, mostly in Western Canada and Ontario. It was called Parkland Income Fund before it converted to a dividend-paying corporation on December 31, 2010. The company owns 312 rural gas stations and convenience stores. Its brands include Fas Gas Plus, Race Trac Gas and Short Stop. Many of Parkland’s stations sell propane in addition to gasoline and diesel fuel. Parkland also operates Esso stations in Western Canada and Ontario under a licensing deal with Imperial Oil (symbol IMO on Toronto). In addition, it has an agreement to use the Chevron brand in B.C....

TRANSCANADA CORP., $49.08, Toronto symbol TRP, has agreed to buy Texas-based Columbia Pipeline Group (New York symbol GPCX) for $13 billion U.S. That figure includes $2.8 billion U.S. of Columbia’s debt. This is a big purchase for TransCanada, which has a market cap of $35.4 billion (Canadian). Columbia operates natural gas pipelines in the U.S. Northeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions, as well as underground gas storage terminals. It’s now working on $5.6 billion U.S. worth of new pipelines. Columbia has already secured contracts from gas shippers, which cuts the risk of these projects....

FEDEX CORP., $163.55, New York symbol FDX, jumped 13% this week after it reported better-than-expected quarterly results. It also increased its full-year earnings forecast. In the third quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended February 29, 2016, the company earned $692 million. That’s up 18.1% from $586 million a year earlier. Earnings per share gained 23.6%, to $2.51 from $2.03, on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude costs to settle several lawsuits and other unusual items. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $2.34 a share....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $59.93 (Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couchetard. com; Shares outstanding: 567.4 million; Market cap: $34.6 billion; Dividend yield: 0.5%) operates 7,979 convenience stores throughout North America.

In Europe, the company operates 2,218 stores across Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), Poland, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Russia.

In the three months ended January 31, 2016, Couche-Tard’s sales rose 2.5%, to $9.33 billion from $9.11 billion a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S....