acquisition
ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD, $60.63, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, has agreed to buy 279 Esso gas stations in Ontario and Quebec from Imperial Oil for $1.7 billion. (Imperial Oil is a recommendation of The Successful Investor, our newsletter that focuses on conservative investments.) Imperial Oil is selling all of its 497 company-owned Esso gas stations to independent operators for $2.8 billion. Following the sale, franchisees will operate all of its 1,700 Esso stations across Canada. Besides Couche-Tard, the buyers include 7-Eleven Canada, which is getting 148 stations in Alberta and British Columbia. Parkland Fuel (Toronto symbol PKI) will buy 17 stations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba....
IMPERIAL OIL LTD., $44.40, Toronto symbol IMO, is selling its 497 company-owned Esso gas stations to independent operators for $2.8 billion. Following the sale, franchisees will operate all of its 1,700 Esso stations across Canada. The buyers include Alimentation Couche-Tard (Toronto symbol ATD.B). It is purchasing 279 stations in Ontario and Quebec. (Alimentation Couche-Tard is a recommendation of Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that focuses on aggressive investments.) In addition, 7-Eleven Canada is getting 148 stations in Alberta and British Columbia. Parkland Fuel (Toronto symbol PKI), will buy 17 stations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba....
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $73 (www.rbc.com) recently completed its $7.1-billion acquisition of Los Angeles-based City National Bank. This business added $53 million to its latest quarterly profits. Even so, Royal’s overall earnings fell 0.4%, to $2.45 billion from $2.46 billion a year earlier; earnings per share fell 4.2%, to $1.58 from $1.65, on more shares outstanding....
CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $96 (www.cibc.com) earned $2.55 a share in the quarter ended January 31, 2016. That’s up 8.1% from $2.36 a year earlier. Strong gains at the bank’s main personal and business banking operations offset weaker earnings from wealth management and securities trading. CIBC also increased its dividend by 2.6%; the new annual rate of $4.72 a share yields 4.9%. Buy. ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $73 (www.rbc.com) recently completed its $7.1-billion acquisition of Los Angeles-based City National Bank. This business added $53 million to its latest quarterly profits. Even so, Royal’s overall earnings fell 0.4%, to $2.45 billion from $2.46 billion a year earlier; earnings per share fell 4.2%, to $1.58 from $1.65, on more shares outstanding. These declines are mainly due to weaker results from its insurance and securities trading operations. Even so, Royal boosted its dividend by 2.5%; the new annual rate of $3.24 a share yields 4.4%. Buy. THOMSON REUTERS INC. $50 (www.thomsonreuters.com) plans to sell its intellectual property and science information businesses. It would probably apply the expected proceeds of $3 billion—equal to 8% of its $38.2-billion market cap—on share repurchases. Buy....
High U.S. dollar zips sales, earnings for Xylem Inc., but global trends should protect long-term demand
NISSAN MOTOR CO., $19.30, symbol NSANY on Nasdaq, is Japan’s second-largest automaker, after Toyota and ahead of Honda. Nissan is up 13% over the last week after announcing that it will buy back as many of 300 million of its common shares, or 6.7% of the total outstanding. The share repurchase will cost as much as 400 billion yen, or $3.5 billion U.S. The company plans to complete those buybacks by December 22, 2016....
AltaGas adds power plants with long-term contracts, sells assets to protect cash flow, make up for weak natural gas prices.
Supremex, $5.45, symbol SXP on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 28.8 million; Market cap: $154.7 million; www.supremex.com), is a leading North American maker of envelopes, and also sells packaging and specialty products. The company has plants in seven Canadian provinces and two in the U.S. Supremex converted from an income trust to a conventional corporation on January 1, 2011. In 2011, the company had revenue of $143.9 million. That fell to $131.9 million in 2013, and to $129.0 million in 2014. The main reason was a steady decline in the use of envelopes by businesses and by individuals (due to email and the Internet), especially in Canada....
Xylem Inc., $37.97, symbol XYL on New York (Shares outstanding: 179.4 million; Market cap: $6.7 billion; www.xyleminc.com), sells equipment and services related to managing water. The company takes its name from “Xylem,” the Greek word describing the vascular tissue that carries water and nutrients through plants. With its products, Xylem Inc. helps clients collect, distribute, use and return water to the environment. The company operates through two divisions:...
Tahoe Resources, $11.82, symbol THO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 227.1 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; www.tahoeresources.com), has offered to buy Toronto-based junior producer Lake Shore Gold, $1.77, symbol LSG on Toronto in a $945-million, all-stock bid. Lake Shore operates the Timmins West and Bell Creek gold mines near Timmins, Ontario. Tahoe owns and operates the Escobal silver mine in Guatemala and the La Arena gold mine in Peru. The company is offering 0.1467 of a Tahoe share for each Lake Shore share. Based on today’s price for Tahoe’s shares, the offer is now worth $1.73 a share....