alimentation couche-tard

METRO INC. $75 (Toronto symbol MRU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 85.1 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.metro.ca) operates 600 grocery stores and 250 drugstores in Quebec and Ontario. In its fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended July 5, 2014, Metro earned $144.5 million, unchanged from a year earlier. The company spent $147.2 million on share buybacks in the latest quarter. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share gained 9.4%, to $1.63 from $1.49. Sales rose 1.4%, to $3.62 billion from $3.57 billion. Same-store sales gained 1.0%. The company continues to benefit from the recent reorganization of its Ontario operations, including converting certain Metro outlets to the discount Food Basics banner....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific advice on a wide range of investing topics. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental tip and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Tip of the week: “When you focus on investment quality and favour growth stocks over momentum stocks, you multiply your chances of success with aggressive stocks.”...

Every Tuesday we bring you “Best Canadian Stocks.” You get our specific recommendation on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You’ll read about stocks making moves you should know about, from coverage in one of our three newsletters featuring Canadian stocks—The Successful Investor, Stock Pickers Digest and Canadian Wealth Advisor. WESTJET AIRLINES (Toronto symbol WJA; www.westjet.com) serves 90 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Its fleet of 107 modern Boeing 737s are 30% more fuel efficient than older jets. In June 2013, the company launched WestJet Encore, its Canadian regional airline. This business now operates 13 Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop planes, which seat 78 passengers....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $35.09 (Toronto symbol ATD.B; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couche-tard.com; Shares outstanding: 565.8 million; Market cap: $20.0 billion; Dividend yield: 0.5%) reported higher sales and record earnings in the latest quarter, as well as a dividend increase. In the three months ended July 20, 2014, Couche-Tard’s sales rose 3.2%, to $9.2 billion from $8.9 billion a year earlier. Per-share earnings gained 23.1%, to $0.48 from $0.39. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 12.5% with the September 2014 payment, to $0.045 a share from $0.04. The stock now yields 0.5%....

SASOL LTD. (ADR), $56.09, symbol SSL on New York, has developed a technology to convert coal and natural gas into motor fuels. The company is the world’s largest producer of fuel from coal at its Secunda, South Africa, facility. It also makes synthetic fuels from natural gas at plants in Qatar and Nigeria. As well, Sasol produces chemicals, oil and gas in Africa. It’s also South Africa’s third-largest coal producer. In its 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2014, Sasol’s revenue rose 19.3%, to 202.7 billion South African rand (1 rand = $0.1039 U.S.) from 169.9 billion rand in fiscal 2013. Earnings per ADR rose 14.3%, to a record 60.16 rand from 52.62 rand. Oil prices were relatively flat, and chemical prices were higher. The U.S. dollar also rose against the rand, increasing the value of Sasol’s sales outside South Africa....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD, $36.65, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, jumped over 18% this week to new all-time highs after reporting higher sales and record earnings in the latest quarter, as well as a dividend increase. In the three months ended July 20, 2014, Couche-Tard’s sales rose 3.2%, to $9.2 billion from $8.9 billion a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings gained 23.1%, to $0.48 from $0.39 (all figures adjusted for Couche-Tard’s 3-for-1 stock split on April 14, 2014). The company is raising its quarterly dividend by 12.5% with the September 2014 payment, to $0.045 a share from $0.04. The shares now yield 0.5%....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $35.09 (Toronto symbol ATD.B; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couche-tard.com; Shares outstanding: 565.8 million; Market cap: $20.0 billion; Dividend yield: 0.5%) reported higher sales and record earnings in the latest quarter, as well as a dividend increase.

In the three months ended July 20, 2014, Couche-Tard’s sales rose 3.2%, to $9.2 billion from $8.9 billion a year earlier. Per-share earnings gained 23.1%, to $0.48 from $0.39.

The company raised its quarterly dividend by 12.5% with the September 2014 payment, to $0.045 a share from $0.04. The stock now yields 0.5%.

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CAE INC. $13.45, Toronto symbol CAE, plans to sell its mining operations, which make simulators for training workers to operate underground trucks, loaders and drills. This business supplies just 2% of the company’s revenue. The mining operations were part of CAE’s New Core Markets division, which applies the company’s flight simulator expertise to other industries. This division, now called Healthcare, will focus on medical-simulation products, such as mannequins for training nurses and medical students. In its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended June 30, 2014, CAE’s earnings from ongoing operations fell 2.0%, to $43.6 million from $44.5 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were unchanged at $0.17, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19. Lower earnings from the company’s military-related businesses offset strong gains from its commercial division....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD, $29.34, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, has reported higher sales and earnings in the latest quarter, as well as a dividend increase. In the three months ended April 27, 2014, Couche-Tard’s sales rose 2.0%, to $9.0 billion from $8.8 billion a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings gained 10.0%, to $0.22 from $0.20 (all figures adjusted for Couche-Tard’s 3-for-1 stock split on April 14, 2014). The company is raising its quarterly dividend by 20.0% with the July 2014 payment, to $0.04 from $0.033. The shares now yield 0.6%....

METRO INC. $67 (Toronto symbol MRU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 87.0 million; Market cap: $5.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.metro.ca) is Canada’s third-largest supermarket operator, after Loblaw (also in this issue) and Sobeys. It now has 600 supermarkets and 250 drugstores.

To cut its reliance on Quebec, which accounted for nearly all of its revenue, Metro bought A&P Canada for $1.7 billion in 2005. The chain consisted of 240 food stores in Ontario, mostly under the A&P and Dominion names.

Since then, Metro has mainly focused on improving the profitability of its stores. Lower costs will give the company more flexibility to adjust its prices, and cope with the recent 7.3% increase in Ontario’s minimum wage.

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