asset management
BANK OF MONTREAL $82 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 649.0 million; Market cap: $53.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) is Canada’s fourth-largest bank, with $586.8 billion of assets.
In July 2011, the bank paid $4.1 billion for Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley. The move doubled the size of its U.S. retail banking business, which now supplies 15% of its total earnings. Thanks to cost cuts and an improving U.S.
economy, this division will likely earn $686 million in fiscal 2014, up 8.7% from 2013. The bank aims to raise that to at least $750 million in 2015.
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In July 2011, the bank paid $4.1 billion for Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley. The move doubled the size of its U.S. retail banking business, which now supplies 15% of its total earnings. Thanks to cost cuts and an improving U.S.
economy, this division will likely earn $686 million in fiscal 2014, up 8.7% from 2013. The bank aims to raise that to at least $750 million in 2015.
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PETSMART INC., $78.70, Nasdaq symbol PETM, operates 1,387 pet stores in the U.S. and Canada. It also has 201 in-store PetsHotel boarding facilities for dogs and cats. In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended November 2, 2014, PetSmart’s earnings declined 0.1%, to $92.16 million from $92.22 million a year earlier. However, earnings per share rose 4.5%, to $0.92 from $0.88, on fewer shares outstanding. Activist investment firms Jana Partners and Longview Asset Management each own about 9% of the company’s stock. Under pressure from these investors, PetSmart is now lowering its overhead and other costs, with the goal of cutting $200 million from its annual expenses by the end of fiscal 2016....
Canada’s big five banks will likely report record earnings in 2014, as low interest rates keep fueling loan demand. The improving economy also means the banks are dealing with fewer bad loans, giving them more room for dividend hikes. Every Canadian investor should own at least two of our banks. For new buying, TD and Bank of Nova Scotia remain our top picks. TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $57 (Toronto symbol TD; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $102.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.td.comtarget="_blank”) is Canada’s largest bank, with $921.8 billion of assets....
We still think investors will profit most—and with the least risk—by buying shares of well-established, dividend-paying stocks with strong business prospects.
These are companies that have strong positions in healthy industries. They also have strong management that will make the right moves to remain competitive in a changing marketplace.
Stocks like these give investors an additional measure of safety in today’s volatile markets. And the best ones offer an attractive combination of moderate p/e’s (the ratio of a stock’s price to its per-share earnings), steady or rising dividend yields (annual dividend divided by the share price) and promising growth prospects.
Here are 20 stocks we think meet those criteria:
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These are companies that have strong positions in healthy industries. They also have strong management that will make the right moves to remain competitive in a changing marketplace.
Stocks like these give investors an additional measure of safety in today’s volatile markets. And the best ones offer an attractive combination of moderate p/e’s (the ratio of a stock’s price to its per-share earnings), steady or rising dividend yields (annual dividend divided by the share price) and promising growth prospects.
Here are 20 stocks we think meet those criteria:
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ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $21.54 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange....
ATLANTIC TELE-NETWORK $58.52 (Nasdaq symbol ATNI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (340- 777-8000; www.atni.com; Shares outstanding: 15.9 million; Market cap: $914.6 million; Yield: 2.0%) raised its quarterly dividend by 7.4%, to $0.29 a share from $0.27, with the October 2014 payment. It now yields 2.0%. Atlantic closed the sale of its Alltel wireless business to AT&T (symbol T on New York) late last year. It now holds cash of $407.6 million, or $24.64 a share, and has paid off its $271.1 million of debt. The company could use its high cash balance to make acquisitions or expand its remaining operations. It could also make further dividend increases or pay special dividends....
SYMANTEC CORP., $21.94, symbol SYMC on Nasdaq, plans to break itself into two publicly traded companies. One will keep the Symantec name and focus on antivirus and security software and services. This business had $4.2 billion of revenue in Symantec’s 2014 fiscal year, which ended March 28, 2014. The other company will consist of Symantec’s information management (IM) operations, which include data backup and recovery software. It had $2.5 billion of revenue in fiscal 2014....
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day, at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....
BELLATRIX EXPLORATION $5.24 (Toronto symbol BXE; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403- 266-8670; www.bellatrixexploration.com; Shares outstanding: 191.1 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; No dividends paid) is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange, also under the BXE symbol.
Bellatrix originally listed its common shares on the NYSE MKT (formerly the American Stock Exchange) on September 20, 2012. Switching to the main New York exchange should raise its profile and increase its liquidity.
The company has also formed a new joint venture with Grafton Asset Management. Under the deal, Grafton will contribute $250 million toward the development of some of Bellatrix’s extensive landholdings in Alberta. Bellatrix will also commit $250 million. To put that in context, Bellatrix’s cash flow was $148.7 million, or $0.84 a share, in the first half of 2014.
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Bellatrix originally listed its common shares on the NYSE MKT (formerly the American Stock Exchange) on September 20, 2012. Switching to the main New York exchange should raise its profile and increase its liquidity.
The company has also formed a new joint venture with Grafton Asset Management. Under the deal, Grafton will contribute $250 million toward the development of some of Bellatrix’s extensive landholdings in Alberta. Bellatrix will also commit $250 million. To put that in context, Bellatrix’s cash flow was $148.7 million, or $0.84 a share, in the first half of 2014.
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BB&T Corp., $39.23, symbol BBT on New York (Shares outstanding: 718.5 million; Market cap: $28.2 billion; www.bbt.com), owns Branch Banking and Trust Company, the ninth-largest U.S. bank by deposits. It has 1,825 offices in 12 southeastern U.S. states and Washington. D.C. Aside from banking, it operates in the brokerage, asset management, mortgage and insurance businesses. The bank is starting to see higher demand for loans from buyers of income-generating real estate (up 10.6% in the 2014 first quarter from the 2013 fourth quarter) and improvement in key markets like Florida and Texas. BB&T’s focus on lending to oil and gas companies and equipment finance is also paying off with higher loan volumes. It needs a continued rise in loan demand to offset a higher cost of funds and a number of less-profitable loans it obtained through acquisitions....