dividends paid

ACI WORLDWIDE $22.65 (Nasdaq symbol ACIW; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative)(402- 390-7600; www.tsainc.com; Shares outstanding: 117.8 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; No dividends paid) reported revenue of $265.8 million in the three months ended June 30, 2015, up 4.3% from $254.8 million a year earlier. The company earned $0.26 a share, up sharply from $0.12. Cost-cutting measures helped improve the latest quarterly results.

ACI’s growth by acquisition has increased its goodwill and intangible assets to $1.0 billion, or a high 37.0% of its market cap.

The company is well positioned to benefit from the global shift toward online payments. However, the stock trades at a high 30.2 times ACI’s forecast 2015 earnings of $0.75 a share. Any major problems integrating its acquisitions could sharply cut that estimate.

...

Three of our long-time recommendations recently spun off a subsidiary as separate firm. This is a great way to unlock hidden value, as studies have shown that after an initial adjustment period of a few months, spinoffs tend to outperform groups of comparable stocks for several years. Needless to say, things don’t always work out this well. Spinoffs and their parents do sometimes run into unforeseeable woes, which is why we don’t see all of these stocks as buys right now. EBAY INC. $29 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $34.8 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.9; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) launched its online auction site in September 1995 and now has 157 million users worldwide. Sellers pay fees to list and sell their goods through eBay’s websites....

With today’s low interest rates, investors are paying more attention to dividend yields (a company’s total annual dividends paid per share divided by the current stock price). Dividend-paying companies are responding by doing their best to maintain, or even increase, their payouts.

In fact, dividends can now contribute up to a third of your long-term investment returns, without even considering the tax-cutting effects of the dividend tax credit (see below).

In addition, dividends are far more reliable than capital gains. A stock that pays a $1 dividend this year will probably do the same next year. It may even increase its dividend payment.

Canadian dividends give you tax advantages

Taxpayers who hold dividend-paying Canadian stocks get an additional bonus: their dividends can be eligible for the dividend tax credit in Canada.

...

AMAZON.COM $488.27 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 465.7 million; Market cap: $227.3 billion; No dividends paid) continues to excel in a range of businesses; its shares are now at all-time highs. The company is a major online retailer that’s growing quickly in new areas. For example, Amazon Web Services offers cloud services through 11 data centres worldwide. It accounts for just 7% of Amazon’s sales, but that’s growing at over 50% a year. However, when Amazon enters a new line of business, it’s happy to make little profit, or even lose money. This is an appropriate growth strategy. Eventually, competitors will catch up with its technology and business practices. In the meantime, it focuses on building a large and loyal clientele....

SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL $1.62 (Toronto symbol S; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-800-704- 6698; www.sherritt.com; Shares outstanding: 293.6 million; Market cap: $472.6 million; Dividend yield: 2.5%) sold all of its coal interests for $793 million in cash in April 2014. The company is now focused on nickel production, with operations in Cuba and Canada. As well, it has a 40% interest in the Ambatovy nickel mine on the island nation of Madagascar, off Africa’s east coast. Sherritt also produces oil and gas in Cuba, Spain and Pakistan and manages 506 megawatts of power generation capacity in Cuba. In the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s revenue fell 31.4%, to $82.9 million from $120.9 million a year earlier, mostly due to lower oil and gas prices. Cash flow per share declined 32.0%, to $0.17 from $0.25....

IAMGOLD $1.65 (Toronto symbol IMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464-9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 391.3 million; Market cap: $688.8 million; No dividends paid) believes Burkina Faso’s upcoming parliamentary vote on an updated mining code will have no effect on its Essakane mine’s profits. Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation in West Africa, is that continent’s fourth-largest gold producer; the precious metal accounts for about 20% of its gross domestic product. The new code is expected to abolish a 10% tax break on miners’ profits. However, Burkina Faso will honour clauses in existing deals. As well, the new code should also end uncertainty surrounding the current 12-yearold mining regulations....

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $80.73 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 497.6 million; Market cap: $40.4 billion; No dividends paid) makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. Graphic designers also use its programs to create print publications and web pages. In its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended May 29, 2015, Adobe earned $0.48 a share, up 29.7% from $0.37 a year earlier. Revenue gained 8.8%, to a record $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion. The company continues to shift away from selling software as a one-time purchase and toward a subscription model. It now gets 72% of its revenue from recurring sources, compared to 55% a year ago....

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE $87.29 (New York symbol WYN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (973- 753-6000; www.wyndhamworldwide.com; Shares outstanding: 120.0 million; Market cap: $10.4 billion; Dividend yield: 1.9%) is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, with 7,670 franchised hotels worldwide. In addition to hotels, Wyndham manages vacation resorts, rental properties, luxury clubs and time-shares. This wide range of operations gives it more consistent cash flow than most of its competitors, which mainly focus on hotels. Wyndham has just bought ResortQuest Whistler, which manages nearly 600 vacation properties at the popular ski resort, for an undisclosed amount. ResortQuest’s properties are fully furnished and offer amenities like full kitchens, fireplaces and large living areas. This is Wyndham’s first acquisition in Canada....

ALAMOS GOLD $4.36 (Toronto symbol AGI TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-681- 2802; www.alamosgold.com; Shares outstanding: 127.4 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; No dividends paid) is the company formed by the merger of Alamos Gold and Stock Pickers Digest recommendation AuRico Gold. The combined firm owns the Mulatos mine in Mexico and the Young-Davidson project in northern Ontario, which holds as much as 5.6 million ounces of gold. Young- Davidson started up in 2013 and will reach full production in 2016. But meanwhile, it’s moving from open-pit to underground mining, which will sharply increase its costs. Alamos Gold holds cash of $358.0 million, which it will use to fund the Young-Davidson mine and boost the combined firm’s gold output from 400,000 ounces this year to 700,000 in 2018....

PAYPAL HOLDINGS INC. $38 (Nasdaq symbol PYPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $45.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: n.a.; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.paypal.com) processes online transactions, including purchases made through eBay’s auction websites. In the past few years, it has expanded into stores and mobile payments. eBay investors received one PayPal share for each eBay share they held. They only become liable for capital gains taxes when they sell their new shares. Operating as a separate firm will let PayPal pursue alliances with more retailers, cutting its reliance on eBay. At the same time, it continues to invest in its mobile operations, which will help it profit as more people buy goods and pay bills through smartphones.

...