acquisition

Often-overlooked Trisura Group is up a whopping 647.2% since its spinoff from Brookfield and its earnings just shot up a solid 16.1% in the most-recent quarter. It’s a top pick.
SALESFORCE INC., $254.57, symbol CRM on New York, provides cloud-based software for customer relationship management applications such as sales, customer service, marketing automation, e-commerce, analytics, and application development.

Founded in 1999 by current CEO Marc Benioff and three other co-founders, the company pioneered the SaaS (software as a service) software model and subscription-based revenue.

Software-as-a-service is where subscribers pay a monthly or yearly fee for software implementation, support and upgrades....
GENERAL MILLS INC., $73.71, New York symbol GIS, is still a hold.

This consumer staples giant is one of the world’s largest foodmakers. Its top brands include Cheerios (cereal), Pillsbury (baking dough), Progresso (soups and salads) and Blue Buffalo (pet food), which it acquired in April 2018 for $8.0 billion.

The company has agreed to sell its North American yogurt business....
VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC., $44.43, New York symbol VZ, is a buy.

The telecom provider is the second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. after AT&T, with 114.2 million consumer cellphone subscribers. It also sells traditional telephone lines, high-speed Internet and TV services.

With the November 2024 payment, Verizon will raise your quarterly dividend by 1.9%, to $0.6775 a share from $0.655....
Cenovus Energy Inc. offers a solid yield and plenty of upside from a value, growth and income perspective with a 24% cash flow boost anticipated this year.
Casella Waste Systems Inc. is generating consistent growth including a 30.2% revenue bump in the most recent quarter – however, its valuation is high.
A: Allegion plc, $135.13, symbol ALLE on New York (Shares outstanding: 87.1 million; Market cap: $11.7 billion; www.allegion.com), sells security products and solutions in 120 countries.

The company is based in Ireland for tax purposes, but it has regional corporate centres in Carmel, Indiana; Brussels, Belgium; and Shanghai, China.

Allegion sells to commercial, institutional, and residential end-users....
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in short-term disruptions to elective medical procedures. Despite that, hospital-equipment supplier Steris kept reporting rising revenue and profits. In fact, the stock went on to hit an all-time high of $252 in April 2022. It then retreated to about $160 later that year as supply-chain disruptions hurt the company....
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, $164.08, Toronto symbol RY, is a buy.

With the August 2024, payment, Royal raised your quarterly dividend by 2.9%. Investors now receive $1.42 a share instead of $1.38. The new annual rate of $5.68 yields 3.5%. The bank also announced a new plan to buy back about 2% of its outstanding common shares over the next year.

On March 28, 2024, Royal completed its purchase of the Canadian operations of U.K.-based HSBC Holdings plc (New York symbol HSBC) for $15.5 billion.

HSBC operates 130 branches that mainly cater to businesses in industries that trade and bank internationally....
VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC., $41.15, New York symbol VZ, is a buy.

The telecom provider is the second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. after AT&T, with 114.2 million consumer cellphone subscribers. It also sells traditional telephone lines, high-speed Internet and TV services.

This week, the company agreed to acquire Frontier Communications Parent Inc....