dividends paid

These three chipmakers are leaders in the their niche markets. But they need new products to keep growing. That’s why all three are spending heavily to develop new chips for smartphones and other popular mobile devices. INTEL CORP. $22 (Nasdaq symbol INTC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.6 billion; Market cap: $123.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.intel.com) is the world’s leading computer-chip maker. For 2010, the company reported record revenue of $43.6 billion. That’s up 24.2% from $35.1 billion in 2009. Earnings jumped 76.1%, to a record $11.6 billion from $6.6 billion in 2009. During the year, Intel paid $1.5 billion to buy back 70 million of its shares. Because of fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 75.2%, to $2.05 from $1.17....

TERADATA CORP. $44 (New York symbol TDC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 167.5 million; Market cap: $7.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.1; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teradata.com) is buying privately held Aprimo, which sells marketing analysis software and services to over 150,000 clients. These products help its clients make better marketing decisions. Teradata is paying $525 million for Aprimo. To put that in context, Teradata earned $75 million, or $0.44 a share, in the three months ended September 30, 2010. The deal should close in the first quarter of 2011. Aprimo uses a cloud-computing model to sell its software. (Cloud computing involves storing data and software on one or more centralized computer networks. Users access these programs or files over the Internet, or through some other computer network.) Aprimo’s expertise will help Teradata as more businesses turn to cloud computing as it cuts their costs....

TRILOGY ENERGY CORP. $14.29 (Toronto symbol TET; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-290-2900; www.trilogyenergy.com; Shares outstanding: 84.2 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 2.9%) owns oil and gas properties in the Kaybob and Grande Prairie areas of central Alberta. About 81% of Trilogy’s production is natural gas. The remaining 19% is oil. In the three months ended September 30, 2010, Trilogy produced 22,462 barrels of oil equivalent per day (this figure includes natural gas). That was down 6.7% from 24,087 barrels a year earlier....

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL $229.33 (New York symbol CMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (303-595-4000; www.chipotle.com; Shares outstanding: 30.9 million; Market cap: $7.1 billion; No dividends paid) is a Denver-based Mexican-restaurant chain. Founded in 1993, Chipotle (pronounced chi-POATlay) charges slightly higher prices than fast-food chains, but offers higher-quality food, including naturally raised meat, and better decor and service. Chipotle has 1,023 restaurants, including its first outside of the U.S., in Toronto. In April 2010, Chipotle opened a restaurant in London, England....

ZHONGPIN $19.46 (Nasdaq symbol HOGS; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (086-10-8286-1788; www.zpfood.com; Shares outstanding: 34.7 million; Market cap: $675.8 million; No dividends paid) plans to build a new, state-of-the-art plant that will let the company produce 100,000 tonnes more prepared pork products, including Chinese-style, western-style, half-cooked and easy-to-cook pork. The new plant will let Zhongpin better meet rising demand in central China. The plant will also meet ever-tightening Chinese government meat-processing standards. Operating almost exclusively in China entails political and currency risk. However, China’s currency is more likely to rise than fall. Meanwhile, demand for higher protein foods, such as pork, continues to rise with the prosperity of China’s middle class....

TEMPUR-PEDIC $40.65 (New York symbol TPX; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative)(800-878-8889; www.tempurpedic.com; Shares outstanding: 68.2 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; No dividends paid) makes and distributes Swedish mattresses and neck pillows made from its Tempur material. The material conforms to the body to provide support and help alleviate pressure points. Tempur-Pedic sells its products in over 80 countries. In the three months ended September 30, 2010, Tempur-Pedic’s earnings jumped 72.1%, to $44.2 million, from $25.7 million a year earlier. The company continues to buy back shares. During the first three quarters of 2010, it bought 8.5 million of its common shares at an average price of $29.41, for a total cost of $250 million. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 88.2% in the latest quarter, to $0.64 from $0.34....

FIRSTSERVICE CORP. $30.20 (Toronto symbol FSV; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-960-9500; www.firstservice.com; Shares outstanding: 28.9 million; Market cap: $873.6 million; No dividends paid) has bought a majority interest in Crosby Property Management, a leading residential property management company in B.C. Crosby manages more than 250 low-, mid and high-rise residential and commercial properties. With $15 million in annual revenue, Crosby is small compared to FirstService, which has $2 billion of annual revenue. However, the purchase gives FirstService a market-leading presence in B.C. FirstService is still a buy.

Long-time readers know that we are constantly reevaluating our stock picks. Below are three stocks we think you should sell. Two of these companies face problems that will weigh on them for the foreseeable future. The third is a thin-trading stock that has moved up recently after moving sideways since 2008. Its growth prospects now appear limited. KINGSWAY FINANCIAL SERVICES $1.31 (Toronto symbol KFS; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (905-629-7888; www.kingsway-financial.com; Shares outstanding: 52.1 million; Market cap: $68.2 million; No dividends paid) mainly provides insurance for drivers in the U.S. that standard auto insurers have rejected. This could be because of their driving record, vehicle type, place of residence, age or credit rating....

BAFFINLAND IRON MINES $1.51 (Toronto symbol BIM; TSINetwork Rating: Start-up) (416-364-8820; www.baffinland.com; Shares outstanding: 343.1 million; Market cap: $518.1 million; No dividends paid) is now the subject of a joint takeover bid. Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, and rival bidder Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition have teamed up to make this new bid. The new offer is for $1.50 a share for all of Baffinland’s shares. If the bid is successful, Arcelor will own 70% of Baffinland, and Nunavut will own 30%. Baffinland is now trading at $1.51 a share, or slightly above the new bid. This indicates that investors are still hoping for an even higher price, perhaps from another global steel company or a Chinese state-owned resource firm....

Investors are paying more attention to dividend yields (a company’s total annual dividends paid per share divided by the current stock price) as stock markets continue to recover. Companies are responding by doing their best to maintain, or even increase, their dividend payments. That’s good news for investors, because dividends are more dependable than capital gains as a source of income. A couple of decades ago, you could assume that dividends would contribute up to a third of your long-term investment returns, without even considering the tax-cutting effects of the dividend tax credit. Earlier in this decade, dividend yields were generally too low to provide a third of investment returns. But now that yields have moved up and interest rates have moved down, it’s realistic to assume they will once again contribute as much as a third of your total return....