canadian

Traditional telecommunications service providers, such as Telus and BCE, are trading at substantially lower valuations compared to other “infrastructure” type companies. This is not only true for Canadian companies, but also for U.S. and other similar companies in Europe.


Growth and profitability: Railways in the lead


In order to compare the various infrastructure groups, we selected the main Canadian and U.S....

Telecommunications form an integral part of the economic infrastructure. Strict licensing standards and high capital requirements result in considerable barriers to entry. Despite slow growth, many of the major telecommunication companies have steady cash flows, high levels of profitability, and rising dividends....

One of the key attractions of exchange-traded funds is their lower fees compared to mutual funds. In addition, as more competitors entered the market, fees on many ETFs continue to drop.


One of the older U.S.-based funds with a large asset base and higher fees is the IShares MSCI Canada ETF $41.96 (New York symbol EWC)....

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. $34 (www.canadianutilities.com) is a buy. The company distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also owns or invests in power plants in Canada, Mexico, Australia and Chile....

Imperial Oil’s shares have dropped recently in response to threatened U.S. tariffs on Canadian oil imports. However, the company’s falling operating costs should help reduce any tariff-related impact. In fact, Imperial is so confident in its prospects, it just raised your dividend by 20%.


IMPERIAL OIL LTD....

ENBRIDGE INC. $64 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol ENB; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 2.2 billion; Market cap: $140.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 5.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.enbridge.com) operates pipelines that pump oil and natural gas from Western Canada to eastern Canada and the U.S....

TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $86 is a buy. The lender (Toronto symbol TD; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $154.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 4.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.td.com) merged its 43%-owned U.S....

We feel railway operator CPKC is in a good position to withstand the negative impact of a potential 25% U.S. tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico. About a third of its freight volumes are necessary goods, such as grains and fertilizers, so tariffs aren’t likely to significantly impact those volumes.


Moreover, the company continues to realize the benefits of its 2023 acquisition of U.S....

Alimentation Couche-Tard has rewarded our subscribers with big gains over the years. We first recommended this convenience store giant in our December 2008 issue at $15.50 a share. Since then, the stock has split 3-for-1 and then 2-for-1. That takes our cost down to $2.58 a share—and gives you a tremendous 2,708.1% gain!

Note that Couche-Tard’s growth by acquisition still carries risk—more on that below, including an update on the company’s most recent attempts to purchase the 7-Eleven chain....

Canadian penny stocks can be riskier than other investments, and if investors aren’t careful, early success can actually lead to a big loss.