enbridge

ENBRIDGE INC. $47 (Toronto symbol ENB; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 831.1 million; Market cap: $39.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. enbridge.com) plans to expand its storage terminal near northern Alberta’s Christina Lake oil sands project, which will help it take advantage of t h i s p r o p e r t y ’ s r i s i n g production. The company will also build pipes and other infrastructure to connect the expansion with its existing pipelines. This project will cost $200 million. That’s equal to 72% of the $278 million, or $0.34 a share, that Enbridge earned in the third quarter of 2013. It expects to finish construction in the third quarter of 2015. Enbridge is a buy.

IGM FINANCIAL INC. $55 (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 252.3 million; Market cap: $13.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.3; Dividend yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. igmfinancial.com) is Canada’s largest independent mutual fund company....

POWER CORP. $29.88 (Toronto symbol POW; Shares outstanding: 411.4 million; Market cap: $12.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Div. yield: 3.9%; www.powercorporation.com) is a diversified holding company. It holds its financial assets through 65.8%-owned Power Financial.

These financial assets include 68.1% of Great- West Lifeco, one of Canada’s largest life insurers (see column on page 9), and 58.7% of IGM Financial, a leading Canadian mutual fund provider.

Power Financial also owns 50% of holding company Parjointco, which holds 55.6% of Switzerland- listed Pargesa Holdings SA....

In next week’s Successful Investor Hotline, we’ll reveal our #1 stock pick for 2014. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to profit. CGI GROUP INC., $34.37, Toronto symbol GIB.A, fell 2.5% on Friday after the U.S. government said it would use another company to fix the Healthcare.gov website, which lets Americans shop for health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare). GCI is the lead contractor for the website. Since the site began operating on October 1, 2013, visitors have had trouble logging on and evaluating the various health plans. As a result, fewer users than expected have signed up....

ENBRIDGE INC. $46.57 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 828.2 million; Market cap: $38.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 3.0%) has won regulatory approval for its Northern Gateway pipeline.

This line would pump crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Kitimat, B.C....

iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index Fund ETF, $24.56, symbol CDZ on Toronto (Units outstanding: 37.6 million; Market cap: $923.5 million; ca.ishares.com), seeks to replicate the performance of the S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index. The ETF’s MER is 0.66%, and it yields 3.2%. The S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index only includes stocks or trusts that have increased their dividends every year for five years—although it has changed that to include stocks or trusts that have maintained the same dividend for a maximum of two consecutive years within that five-year period. That means the index excludes a number of sound companies that pay dividends but haven’t increased them every year, such as three of Canada’s big-five bank stocks. The ETF’s top 10 holdings are AGF Management, 4.3%; AG Growth International, 3.7%; Bird Construction, 3.5%; Reitmans (Canada), 3.1%; Exchange Income Corp., 3.1%; Northern Property REIT, 2.9%; Enbridge Income Fund Holdings, 2.9%; IGM Financial, 2.5%; Laurentian Bank of Canada, 2.4%; and Emera Inc., 2.4%....

ISHARES MSCI CANADA INDEX FUND $28.59 (New York symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds the stocks in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. The fund has a 0.49% MER.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 7.4%; TD Bank, 6.5%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.7%; Suncor Energy, 4.0%; CN Railway, 3.7%; Bank of Montreal, 3.5%; Manulife Financial, 2.7%; Canadian Natural Resources, 2.7%; CIBC, 2.7%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 2.7%; and Enbridge, 2.5%.

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ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $19.25 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. Expenses are just 0.17% of assets.

The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.3%; TD Bank, 7.3%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 6.4%; Suncor Energy, 4.5%; CN Railway, 4.1%; Bank of Montreal, 3.9%; Manulife Financial, 3.1%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.1%; CIBC, 3.0%; BCE, 3.0%; Enbridge, 3.0%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 2.9%; TransCanada Corporation, 2.7%; Potash Corp., 2.4%; CP Rail, 2.1%; Telus, 2.0%; and Cenovus, 1.9%.
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VERESEN $13.86 (Toronto symbol VSN; Shares outstanding: 200.9 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Yield: 7.2%) owns pipelines, power plants and gas-processing facilities across North America. A major holding is 50% of the Alliance gas line, which runs 3,000 kilometres between Chicago and Fort St. John, B.C. Enbridge owns the other 50%. Veresen also owns the Alberta Ethane Gathering System, and Veresen and Enbridge together hold 85.4% of the Aux Sable NGL plant.

In February 2012, Veresen paid Encana Corp. $920 million for the Hythe/Steeprock natural gas gathering and processing complex. Encana signed a long-term deal to buy most of this facility’s gas.

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ENBRIDGE INC. $43 (www.enbridge.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 11.1%, to $0.35 a share from $0.315. The new annual rate of $1.40 yields 3.3%. The company expects to start operating several new oil pipelines in the next few months. As a result, its earnings should rise from a projected $1.79 a share in 2013 to between $1.84 and $2.04 a share in 2014....