Broadridge Financial Solutions

HILLSHIRE BRANDS CO., $25.32, New York symbol HSH, makes a variety of packaged meat products. Its main brands include Ball Park hot dogs, Jimmy Dean sausages and Hillshire Farm deli meats. Other products include Sara Lee frozen desserts and Chef Pierre pies. The company took its current form on June 28, 2012. That’s when Wall Street Stock Forecaster recommendation Sara Lee Corp. (New York symbol SLE) split itself into two separate companies: Hillshire Brands and D.E. Master Blenders 1753 N.V. (see below). Following the spinoff of D.E. Master, the remaining Sara Lee shares were converted into Hillshire stock and consolidated on a 1-for-5 basis. Adjusting for the breakup, Hillshire’s sales would have risen 4.0% in its 2012 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2012, to $4.0 billion from $3.9 billion in fiscal 2011. If you exclude the contribution of an acquisition, sales would have risen 1.2%. The company also raised its prices to cover higher ingredient costs....

DUNDEE REIT, $38.40, symbol D.UN on Toronto, owns and manages 27.6 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space. The real estate investment trust’s occupancy rate is 95.6%. In the three months ended June 30, 2012, Dundee’s revenue jumped 89.6%, to $181.2 million from $95.6 million a year earlier. Most of the increase came from properties the trust recently purchased. The best way to assess a real estate investment trust’s operating performance is to look at its cash flow, and Dundee’s cash flow rose 78.9% in the latest quarter, to $56.0 million from $31.3 million. Cash flow per unit rose 8.9%, to $0.61 from $0.56, due to more units outstanding (the trust issued new units to pay for recent property purchases)....

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $22.88 New York symbol BR: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 124.9 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Dividend yield: 3.2%) reports that its earnings rose 12.6% in its 2012 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2012, to $198.0 million from $175.8 million in 2011. Earnings per share climbed 13.1%, to $1.55 from $1.37, on fewer shares outstanding.

Revenue rose 6.3%, to $2.3 billion from $2.2 billion.

The company continues to do a good job of attracting new clients and holding on to existing ones. Acquisitions also contributed to the gains. Moreover, Broadridge has finished moving its data centre to IBM under an outsourcing contract that expires in June 2022. This deal should save the company roughly $25 million a year.

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BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $21.70 (New York symbol BR: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 124.9 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; Dividend yield: 3.0%) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications; securities processing; and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. Broadridge’s earnings rose 11.0% in the three months ended March 31, 2012, to $36.2 million from $32.6 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 12.0%, to $0.28 from $0.25, on fewer shares outstanding. Sales rose 3.8%, to $547.0 million from $527.1 million. Contributions from recently purchased companies helped push up Broadridge’s latest results. As well, the company continues to do a good job of attracting new clients and holding on to existing ones....

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $21.70 (New York symbol BR: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 124.9 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; Dividend yield: 3.0%) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications; securities processing; and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S.

Broadridge’s earnings rose 11.0% in the three months ended March 31, 2012, to $36.2 million from $32.6 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 12.0%, to $0.28 from $0.25, on fewer shares outstanding. Sales rose 3.8%, to $547.0 million from $527.1 million.

Contributions from recently purchased companies helped push up Broadridge’s latest results. As well, the company continues to do a good job of attracting new clients and holding on to existing ones.

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J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO., $36.96, New York symbol JPM, fell 9% on Friday after it announced an unexpected loss at its trading division. Morgan uses complex derivatives that act like insurance contracts on the corporate bonds it holds. Due to volatile bond prices, Morgan has lost $2 billion on these hedges since the start of April 2012. The bank is now trying to get out of them, but depending on bond prices, Morgan could lose another $1 billion before it is able to do so. To put these figures in context, Morgan earned $5.4 billion, or $1.31 a share, in the three months ended March 31, 2012....

STANTEC INC., $31.53, symbol STN on Toronto, sells a range of consulting, project delivery, design and technology services. The company’s clients operate in a variety of industries, including transportation, construction and oil and gas. Stantec has over 11,000 employees in 170 locations throughout North America. It also has four international offices. In the three months ended March 31, 2012, the company’s revenue rose 7.4%, to $439.1 million from $408.7 million a year earlier. Acquisitions were part of the reason for the gains; Stantec is also working on a number of new projects. Earnings rose 4.5%, to $24.9 million, or $0.55 a share, from $23.8 million, or $0.52....

INTACT FINANCIAL CORP. $60.00 (Toronto symbol IFC; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-341-1464; www.intactfc.com; Shares outstanding: 129.6 million; Market cap: $7.8 billion; Dividend yield: 2.7%) is Canada’s largest provider of property and casualty insurance, based on premiums. Its brands include Intact Insurance, Canada BrokerLink, belairdirect and Grey Power. In the three months ended December 31, 2011, Intact’s revenue rose 48.7%, to $1.58 billion from $1.06 billion. That was mainly due to AXA Canada, which Intact bought from Paris-based ASX Group for $2.6 billion last year. AXA Canada is the country’s sixth-largest home, auto and commercial insurer. It also gives Intact a presence in Quebec, B.C. and Atlantic Canada....

NCR CORP., $21.14, New York symbol NCR, jumped 11% this week after it agreed to sell its DVD rental business, which operates through automated kiosks, to Coinstar Inc. (Nasdaq symbol CSTR) for $100 million. NCR has also agreed to provide Coinstar with maintenance services, hardware and software. That will boost NCR’s profits by $25 million over the deal’s five-year term. The sale should close in the third quarter of 2012. Meanwhile, NCR reported better-than-expected earnings for 2011. During the year, the company earned $49 million, or $0.31 a share. That’s down 58.8% from $119 million, or $0.72 a share, in 2010. However, if you exclude writedowns and other unusual items, NCR would have earned $1.92 a share in 2011. That beat the consensus estimate of $1.83....

WESTJET AIRLINES LTD., $13.34, symbol WJA on Toronto, reports that its revenue rose 12.9% in the three months ended December 31, 2011, to $781.5 million from $692.2 million a year earlier. Demand for the company’s flights remains high, and it has entered into new partnerships with other airlines; these were the main reasons for the higher revenue. Earnings fell 4.3%, to $35.6 million from $37.2 million. Higher fuel prices were the main reason for the decline. However, earnings per share were unchanged at $0.26 due to fewer shares outstanding. The company has also raised its quarterly dividend by 20%, to $0.06 from $0.05. The shares now yield 1.8%....