dividends paid

CGI GROUP INC. $20 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 258.9 million; Market cap: $5.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cgi.com) is Canada’s largest provider of computer outsourcing services. It also operates in 15 other countries. Canada and the U.S. each accounted for 47% of its revenue in the latest fiscal year; Europe and Asia supplied the remaining 6%.

The company often uses acquisitions to fuel its growth. It cuts the risk of this strategy by focusing on smaller companies that enhance its products or expand its geographic reach.

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BRIGGS & STRATTON CORP. $18 (New York symbol BGG; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 49.8 million; Market cap: $896.4 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.briggsandstratton.com) is closing plants in Tennessee and the Czech Republic due to declining sales of lawn mowers and snow blowers. It will shift some the production from these plants to other facilities in the U.S. The company expects to complete these closures by May 2012. These moves will cost Briggs between $50 million and $55 million. To put that in context, it earned $63.2 million, or $0.48 a share, in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011. However, the closures should cut Briggs’ yearly costs by $18 million to $20 million. Briggs & Stratton is a hold....

IDEXX LABORATORIES INC. $89 (Nasdaq symbol IDXX; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 55.1 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.0; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.idexx.com) earned $2.78 a share in 2011, up 17.3% from $2.37 in 2010. Revenue rose 10.4%, to $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion.

Sales of the company’s Pro-Cyte Dx hematology analyzer, which processes animal blood tests in just two minutes, continue to rise. This device cuts veterinarians’ reliance on external labs and lowers their costs. Demand is also increasing in overseas markets. For example, Idexx recently received approval to market this device in Japan.

Idexx feels that its revenue will rise by 7% to 8% in 2012. However, the stock trades at 29.0 times the company’s likely 2012 earnings of $3.07 a share. That high p/e ratio makes the stock vulnerable to a sudden drop if Idexx fails to meet its revenue or earnings growth targets.

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ADOBE SYSTEMS $32.46 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 493.8 million; Market cap: $16.0 billion; No dividends paid) makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. As well, graphic designers use its software to create print publications and web pages. The company also makes Adobe Flash, which lets website developers make their pages more interactive by adding animation and video. Adobe recently stopped making Flash for smartphones and other mobile devices. Instead, it will focus on developing products that are based on the newer HTML5 Internet standard....

CALIAN TECHNOLOGIES $18.90 (Toronto symbol CTY; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (613-599-8600; www.calian.com; Shares outstanding: 7.6 million; Market cap: $143.6 million; Dividend yield: 5.5%) operates in two areas: the business and technology services division (which supplies 70% of Calian’s revenue) provides engineers, health care workers and other skilled professionals to clients on a contract basis. The systems engineering division (30% of revenue) sells hardware and software for testing, operating and managing satellite and other communication systems. In the three months ended December 31, 2011, Calian’s revenue rose 6.7%, to $56.8 million from $53.3 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 14.4%, to $3.6 million, or $0.47 a share, from $3.1 million, or $0.41 a share. Sales rose at the systems engineering division, partly due to an increase in U.S. military orders. The business and technology services division also saw continued strong demand. Calian’s backlog now stands at $665 million, with contracts running to 2018....

FORTRESS PAPER $36.77 (Toronto symbol FTP; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-888-820-3888; www.fortresspaper.com; Shares outstanding: 14.3 million; Market cap: $525.8 million; No dividends paid) just bought Domtar Corp.’s old pulp mill in Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Quebec. The company plans to convert the mill to produce a type of cellulose called dissolving pulp, which is used to make rayon fabrics. Fortress is buying the plant for a nominal amount of $1, but it will commit to spending $222 million on the conversion, which should be finished in mid-2013. The Quebec government will grant the company a 10-year, $132.4-million loan to help finance the plant. Fortress’s outlook is positive, and the new dissolving pulp plant should make a big contribution to its earnings....

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE $42.99 (New York symbol WYN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (973-753-6000; www.wyndhamworldwide.com; Shares outstanding: 154.0 million; Market cap: $6.6 billion; Dividend yield: 2.1%) is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, with 7,205 franchised hotels worldwide. Aside from Wyndham and Ramada, it owns a variety of other brands, including Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate, Baymont Inn & Suites, Microtel Inns & Suites, Hawthorn Suites, Howard Johnson, Travelodge and AmeriHost Inn. In addition to hotels, Wyndham manages vacation resorts, rental properties, luxury clubs and time-shares. Wyndham now has 100,000 vacation rental properties worldwide. This wide range of operations gives the company more consistent cash flow than most of its competitors, which mainly focus on hotels. In the three months ended December 31, 2011, Wyndham’s revenue rose 6.7%, to $1.0 billion from $937.0 million. The company gets most of its revenue from vacation rather than business travel, and vacation bookings rose in the latest quarter. That helped push up Wyndham’s occupancy rate by 3.8%. Before one-time items, earnings rose 2.2%, to $0.47 a share from $0.46. Wyndham continues to buy back its shares. In the latest quarter, it repurchased 6.7 million shares for $225 million. In all of 2011, it bought back 28.7 million shares for $902 million. The company has also raised its quarterly dividend by 53.3%, to $0.23 from $0.15. It now yields 2.1%....

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL $375.73 (New York symbol CMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (303-595-4000; www.chipotle.com; Shares outstanding: 31.3 million; Market cap: $11.8 billion; No dividends paid) reported 23.7% higher sales in the three months ended December 31, 2011, to $596.7 million from $482.5 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 23.2%, to $1.81 a share from $1.47 a share. The company will open 155 to 165 new restaurants in 2012. That will push up its sales. However, rising food costs will keep putting pressure on its profit margins. It’s uncertain if Chipotle can further raise its prices to offset those increases. Chipotle trades at nearly 46 times its forecast earnings for this year. That’s a high ratio that leaves the stock vulnerable if it runs into any short-term problems. Still, it’s a well-established chain with a growing following, especially among health-conscious, environmentally aware baby boomers....

WESTJET AIRLINES $13.95 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-877-493-7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 130.8 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.7%) 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 1.7%....

NISSAN MOTOR CO. ADR $19.90 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissanmotors.com; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $45.8 billion; No dividends paid) reported that its earnings rose 3.2% in the three months ended December 31, 2011, to 82.7 billion yen ($1.07 billion U.S.) from 80.1 billion yen ($1.04 billion U.S.) a year earlier. That’s a particularly strong performance in light of the fact that flooding in Thailand cut Nissan’s production by 33,000 vehicles in the quarter. The strong yen also hurt the company’s profits from overseas sales. Even so, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of 71.7 billion yen. Nissan’s sales are rising in all of its markets outside Japan, including Europe and the U.S., as well as China and emerging markets like India, Russia and Brazil. Overall, the car-maker sold 1.2 million vehicles during the quarter, up 19.5% from a year earlier....