dividends paid
ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $29.16 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 525.8 million; Market cap: $14.5 billion; No dividends paid) reported sharply higher earnings in its latest quarter. In the three months ended June 3, 2011, Adobe’s earnings rose 60.7%, to $0.45 from $0.28 a year earlier. Revenue rose 8.5%, to $1.0 billion from $943.0 million. The company recently upgraded its Creative Suite package of photo-editing and desktop-publishing programs. However, Adobe is seeing weaker demand in Europe. Adobe holds cash of $2.6 billion, or about $5.20 a share. The company’s long-term debt of $1.5 billion represents a low 10.3% of its market cap....
NISSAN MOTOR CO. ADR $21.26 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; SI Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissanmotors.com; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $43.4 billion; No dividends paid) expects to report an operating profit of 460 billion yen ($5.7 billion U.S.) in the year ended March 31, 2011. That’s down 14% from a year earlier. Even so, that’s a strong performance in light of the slowdowns and disruptions that the company experienced in the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. As well, Nissan expects its worldwide production to rise 9.9% this year, to 4.6 million vehicles. Rivals Toyota and Honda are both expecting production declines....
ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $29.73 (Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couche-tard.com; Shares outstanding: 242.4 million; Market cap: $7.2 billion; Yield: 0.8%) reports that its earnings (excluding one-time items) rose 19.0% in the three months ended April 24, 2011, to $64.0 million, or $0.35 a share. A year earlier, it earned $53.8 million, or $0.30 a share (all figures except share prices in U.S. dollars). Revenue rose 20.9%, to $4.8 billion from $4.0 billion. Same-store sales climbed 3.6% in the U.S., but fell 2.1% in Canada. The company gets 79.3% of its sales from the U.S. Motorists could cut their fuel use in response to sharply higher gasoline prices. That would hurt Couche-Tard’s sales. However, it’s introducing new products with higher profit margins, including new drinks and improved fresh and take-out food....
CRITICALCONTROL SOLUTIONS CORP. $0.54 (Toronto symbol CCZ; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-877-215-5883; www.criticalcontrol.com; Shares outstanding: 45.8 million; Market cap: $28.4 million; No dividends paid.) sells software and services that help businesses better manage, access and store their information. CriticalControl gets about 60% of its revenue from clients in the oil and gas industry, followed by government (20%), health care (10%) and finance and retail (10%). In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Critical-Control’s revenue fell 6.2%, to $12.2 million from $13.0 million a year earlier. Revenue at the Service Bureau Operations division rose 10%, while revenue at the Canadian Energy Services division was flat. Revenue at the U.S. Energy Services division fell 28.0%....
CGI GROUP INC. $23 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 264.6 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cgi.com) has gained 27.1% since we named it our “#1 Stock of the Year” for 2011. CGI is Canada’s largest provider of computer-outsourcing services. The company’s services can automate certain routine functions, such as accounting and buying supplies. That makes its clients more efficient. The company’s strong reputation continues to help it win new contracts....
RESEARCH IN MOTION INC. $27 (Toronto symbol RIM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 524.1 million; Market cap: $14.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rim.com) has dropped by 50% since March 2011, and now trades at a low 5 times earnings. That’s mainly because the company has run into delays in launching new smartphones. As a result, RIM is losing market share, particularly in the consumer market, to the Apple iPhone and smartphones powered by Google’s Android operating system. RIM’s recent problems have drawn comparisons with one-time tech giant Nortel Networks, which went bankrupt in 2009. However, Nortel bought a number of telecom companies during the Internet boom of the early 2000s, when telecom was headed for a deep decline. In contrast, the smartphone industry continues to grow rapidly, particularly overseas. RIM now has 68 million users worldwide, up 24% from 55 million users in November 2010....
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One of our favourite Canadian dividend stocks continues to boost its payout
PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Thursday, June 30, 2011. WESTJET AIRLINES, $14.69, symbol WJA on Toronto, is now in the process of upgrading its “interline” agreement with Delta Air Lines to a full “code sharing” arrangement. Delta is the second-busiest U.S. airline carrier by traffic, behind United Airlines. WestJet signed an interline agreement with Delta in February 2011. Under these agreements, two airlines co-operate on flights and baggage handling. WestJet has similar deals with Air France-KLM, China Airways of Taiwan, and Hong Kong-based Dragonair. As well, the company recently signed interline agreements with Australia’s Qantas Airlines and Japan Airlines Corp....
On January 4, 2011, shareholders of the old Motorola Inc. received one share of Motorola Mobility for every eight Motorola shares they own. Following the distribution, the old Motorola changed its name to Motorola Solutions. It also consolidated its shares on a 1-for-7 basis, as many pension plans and institutional investors avoid stocks that trade below a certain price. Breakups like this help unlock hidden value, and generally lead to above-average results over time. We initially saw both stocks as buys, but we now prefer Motorola Solutions to Motorola Mobility. MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC. $46 (New York symbol MSI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 339.5 million; Market cap: $15.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.motorolasolutions.com) makes specialized equipment, such as bar-code scanners, and radios for police and fire vehicles....
APPLE INC. $322 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 924.8 million; Market cap: $297.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) has agreed to settle a long-running patent dispute with rival cellphone maker Nokia Corp. (New York symbol NOK). The company did not reveal the details of the settlement. However, it will likely make a one-time payment of several million dollars. In addition, Apple will probably pay Nokia a royalty based on future iPhone sales. As well, the company will soon launch iCloud, a new free service that will let users store music, videos and other files on remote servers. Users can then access these files over the Internet through iPhones and other Apple devices. Apple believes iCloud will spur sales of iPods, iPhones and iPads, as well as sales of music and movies from its iTunes online store....