acquisition

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS INC., $214.47, is a buy. The company, symbol BR on New York, serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing, and transaction clearing.

Broadridge is best known for processing and distributing proxies and regulatory filings for nearly every publicly traded U.S....

A: Cognex Corp., $38.07, symbol CGNX on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 171.6 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; www.cognex.com), makes vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used in manufacturing automation.

Cognex’s shares plunged over 21% on Thursday, August 1, 2024, when the company released its latest results (more on that below).

Known as vision machine products, the company’s offerings aim to help companies improve product quality and lower manufacturing costs....

A: H.B. Fuller Company, $78.84, symbol FUL on New York (Shares outstanding: 54.5 million; Market cap: $4.3 billion; www.hbfuller.com), is one of the world’s largest providers of adhesives, sealants, and other specialty chemical products....

We believe that virtually all investors should have some gold exposure, if only because inflation remains a risk for the long term. High-quality gold producers are your most practical choice. That’s because these stocks let you profit from increases in the price of gold, without the costs for storage and insurance that come with gold coin and bullion investment....

SLEEP COUNTRY CANADA HOLDINGS INC., $34.92, symbol ZZZ on Toronto, is Canada’s dominant specialty mattress retailer. The company operates 307 stores nationwide, along with 18 distribution centres. Its product offerings include mattress sets and sleep-related accessories such as bed frames, pillows, mattress pads, sheets, duvets, headboards, footboards and platforms.

Stephen Gunn, Christine Magee and Gord Lownds founded Sleep Country in Vancouver in 1994....

GARMIN LTD., $168.52, is a buy. The company (symbol GRMN on Nasdaq) makes GPS devices and software for five different markets: fitness, outdoors, auto, aviation, and marine.

In the three months ended June 29, 2024, Garmin’s overall revenue rose 14.1%, to $1.51 billion from $1.32 billion a year earlier.

Sales in the marine segment rose 26%....

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO., $155.73, Toronto symbol CNR, remains a buy for long-term gains.

CN operates Canada’s largest railway. Its 30,250-kilometre network stretches across the country. It also travels down through the U.S. Midwest, connecting Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

The company last raised your quarterly dividend with the March 2024 payment....

Innergex Renewable Energy recently cut its payout but still yields a solid and sustainable 3.7% as it looks to re-allocate capital for long-term sustainable returns.

A: Ingersoll Rand Inc., $98.60, symbol IR on New York, (Shares outstanding: 403.4 million; Market cap: $39.8 billion; www.ingersollrand.com), offers a broad range of air, gas, liquid, and solid flow technologies, providing services and solutions to increase industrial productivity, efficiency, and sustainability.

The company manufactures one of the broadest and most complete ranges of compressors, pump, vacuum and blower products in its markets....

ALPHABET INC., Nasdaq symbols GOOG $168.68 [class C: non-voting] and GOOGL $167.00 [class A: one vote per share], is your #1 Aggressive buy for 2024.

The company is the parent of Google, the world’s leading Internet search engine—it handles over 80% of global search requests....