acquisition

Merck continues to make savvy acquisitions to bolster its own research pipeline. That’s key to sustaining its growth going forward.


MERCK & CO. INC., $127.99, is a buy. The drugmaker (New York symbol MRK; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (www.merck.com; Shares o/s: 2.5 billion; Market cap: $324.2 billion; Yield: 2.4%), has just agreed to acquire privately held biotech EyeBio for as much as $3 billion....

Intact Financial is now close to its recent, all-time high—and the shares are up a spectacular 411% since we first recommended them at $42.95 in our April 2010 issue. We think this Power Buy is poised to keep moving even higher for you, our subscribers.


INTACT FINANCIAL, $219.30, is a Power Buy. The insurer (Toronto symbol IFC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (www.intactfc.com; Shares outstanding: 178.3 million; Market cap: $39.1 billion; Dividend yield: 2.2%) is Canada’s largest provider of property and casualty coverage: it insures more than five million individuals and businesses....

BECTON DICKINSON & CO. $234 is a buy. The medical device maker (New York symbol BDX; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 283.9 million; Market cap: $66.4 billion; Dividend yield: 1.6%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.bd.com) has agreed to acquire the Critical Care product group of Edwards Lifesciences Corp....

Gen Digital is the rebranded name for NortonLifeLock (formerly Symantec—more on that below), one of our long-time tech stock favourites. The company changed its name to Gen Digital following its 2022 acquisition of European cybersecurity firm Avast plc for $8.1 billion.

Growth by acquisition adds risk—especially with a purchase as big as Avast....

NVENT ELECTRIC PLC, $78.55, symbol NVT on New York, makes stainless steel, aluminum and non-metallic covers and enclosures for electrical equipment, as well as electrical connections. Some of the company’s brands date back over 100 years and include Caddy, Erico, Hoffman, Raychem, Schroff and Tracer....

TC ENERGY INC., $53.25, Toronto symbol TRP, is a buy.

TC generates steady cash flow for investors mainly through a 93,600-kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to eastern Canada and the U.S. Its other operations include 4,900 kilometres of crude oil pipelines and 13 power plants.

With the April 2024 payment, TC raised your quarterly dividend by 3.2%....

BCE INC., $45.18, Toronto symbol BCE, is still your #1 Income Buy for 2024.

The company is Canada’s largest traditional telephone service provider. It has 1.98 million residential customers in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces....

A: Orla Mining Ltd., $5.42, symbol OLA on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 318.3 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; www.orlamining.com), is a junior gold exploration, development and production company headquartered in Vancouver.

The company’s two primary assets are: the Camino Rojo (100%) project in Zacatecas State, Mexico; and the South Railroad (100%) project in Nevada.

Camino Rojo includes the Camino Rojo oxide gold mine....

PAGERDUTY INC., $19.71, is a buy. The company (symbol PD on New York) operates a platform that collect real-time data from software systems and devices and then notifies its IT customers of any incident that could harm their operations.

PagerDuty’s platform sits on top of a company’s technology systems, taking in data....

BECTON DICKINSON & CO., $240.63, New York symbol BDX, is a buy.

The company operates through three segments: Medical makes an array of devices for hospitals, doctors’ offices and other clients in health care; Life Sciences sells products for collecting and shipping specimens as well as equipment for detecting diseases; and Interventional makes stents, catheters, needles, incontinence devices and surgical tools.

This week, Becton agreed to acquire the Critical Care product group of Edwards Lifesciences Corp....