alimentation couche-tard

RESEARCH IN MOTION LTD., $13.01, Toronto symbol RIM, has launched two smartphones powered by its new BlackBerry 10 software: the BlackBerry Z10 uses a 4.2-inch touchscreen interface while the BlackBerry Q10 features a smaller screen and a physical keyboard. The company will start selling the Z10 in Canada, the U.K. and other countries in the next few days. However, it won’t launch the new phone in the U.S. until March. Investors fear that this delay will further erode the company’s U.S. market share. That’s the main reason why the stock fell 26% this week. RIM will launch the Q10 in April. Unlike other smartphone makers, RIM also sells software that helps businesses and governments encrypt mobile email messages and other sensitive data. The company has used its expertise in this area to create BlackBerry Balance, a feature that lets the new phones easily switch between business and personal modes. BlackBerry Balance should help RIM satisfy its corporate customers’ security needs while letting individuals enjoy personal services, such as music, movies and games....

BELLATRIX EXPLORATION, $4.97, symbol BXE on Toronto, is up over 21% this week after it announced a joint venture agreement with an unnamed South Korea-based investment fund. This deal should speed up development of Bellatrix’s undeveloped Cardium shale oil deposits in west-central Alberta. The South Korean partner will pay $150 million for 33% of production from a planned 83-well drilling program. In addition, Bellatrix will now spend a total of $230 million to $240 million on exploration and development this year, up from its earlier forecast of $180 million. The company expects its daily production to average 24,000 to 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent (including natural gas) per day this year. It could also end 2013 with production as high as 30,000 to 31,000 barrels per day. To put that in perspective, Bellatrix likely ended 2012 with average production of 19,000 to 19,500 barrels a day....

AGRIUM INC., $115.36, Toronto symbol AGU, jumped 8% this week after the company increased its earnings forecast for the fourth quarter of 2012. Higher prices for grains and other crops are prompting farmers to apply more fertilizer. As a result, the company now expects to report fourth quarter earnings of slightly more than $2.00 a share (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). That’s well above its earlier forecast of $1.50 to $1.90 a share. Activist investment firm Jana Partners LLC continues to pressure Agrium to spin off its retail business as a separate company. Jana owns 6% of Agrium’s shares....

Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a beginning or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific advice and insights, such as how we select our top stocks. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “By using our ratings system, investors can make informed stock selections with a much better chance of success.” When subscribers to one of our four investment newsletters read about the stocks we recommend, they see a rating displayed with each stock. These are our TSINetwork ratings: Highest Quality, Above Average, Average, Extra Risk, Speculative and Start-up....

Alimentation Couche-Tard $49.82, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, was our #1 pick for 2012 in Stock Pickers Digest at $30.55. Its shares are now up 63.1%.

WestJet (see left) was trading at $14.10 when we made it our #1 Stock of the Year for 2011. It was a year late getting started, but it’s now hitting new highs. Alimentation Couche-Tard $49.82, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, was our #1 pick for 2012 in Stock Pickers Digest at $30.55. Its shares are now up 63.1%. Canadian Pacific $98.57, symbol CP on Toronto, was our 2012 #1 pick for The Successful Investor at $69. It’s up 42.9%....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $49.82 (Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couche-tard.com; Shares outstanding: 179.4 million; Market cap: $8.9 billion; Dividend yield: 0.6%) saw its sales rise 80.8% in the latest quarter, mostly due to its $2.7-billion acquisition of Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Earnings per share rose 53.2%, to $0.95 from $0.62. The company’s profit growth has slowed lately, largely because of a price war among U.S. cigarette makers. This is sharply lowering Couche-Tard’s profit margins. High gasoline prices are causing motorists to cut back on driving. That’s hurting fuel sales volumes, which is cutting the profit margins on the fuel the company does sell....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD, $49.07, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, reported sharply higher sales and earnings in its latest quarter. The company is the largest convenience store operator in Canada, with over 2,000 outlets. It also has nearly 3,700 U.S. stores. The Canadian stores operate under the Couche-Tard and Mac’s banners, while the U.S. stores mainly use the Circle K brand. In the three months ended October 14, 2012, Couche-Tard’s sales jumped 80.8% to $9.3 billion from $5.2 billion a year earlier. The gain mostly came from Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA, which Couche-Tard bought for $2.7 billion in June 2012 (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). The company also benefited from higher fuel prices and merchandise sales. Couche-Tard gets about 30% of its sales by selling merchandise....

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD., $33.10, Toronto symbol L, has signed a new long-term deal with Towers Watson, a private firm that helps Canadian companies manage their employees’ health benefits. Under the agreement, Loblaw’s in-store pharmacies will offer special discounts to Towers Watson’s clients, which together employ over 30,000 people. These discounts should draw more shoppers to Loblaw’s stores and more than offset the lost revenue. Roughly half of Loblaw’s 1,000 supermarkets now have in-store pharmacies. Meanwhile, the company earned $222 million, or $0.79 a share, in the three months ended October 6, 2012. That’s down 5.9% from $236 million, or $0.84 a share, a year earlier. Even with the decline, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.78 a share....

FAIRFAX FINANCIAL HOLDINGS, $376.90, symbol FFH on Toronto, owns 43.2% of Cunningham Lindsey, one of the world’s largest insurance claims management companies. Private-equity firm Stone Point Capital LLC holds a 51% interest. Cunningham Lindsey’s services include claims adjusting, appraisal and claims and risk management. Its customers include insurance and reinsurance companies, insurance brokers and multinational corporations....