holding company

We haven’t been able to find any water utilities we would recommend for investment. The water business in developed countries is subject to a lot of regulatory hurdles and has limited growth prospects. There may be opportunities in developing nations, many of which desperately need clean water. But investing in these markets can expose you to political risk. We think you should stick with the utility stocks we recommend in our newsletters....

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. Pargesa has 95% of its assets in five large European companies: Imerys (minerals), Total SA (oil), Pernod Ricard (wine and spirits), Suez Environnement (energy, water and waste services) and Lafarge (cement and building materials). Power Corp. also has investments in Asia.
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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....

Holding companies give you an easy way to buy a variety of businesses at a discount. As well, their structure makes it possible for them to unlock hidden value by selling undervalued subsidiaries....

ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $47 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $47; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 115.2 million; Market cap: $5.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.atco.com) holds 53.1% of Canadian Utilities (see page 15). It also owns 75.5% of ATCO Structures & Logistics, which builds temporary buildings for construction and energy exploration firms; Canadian Utilities owns the remaining 24.5%.

In the three months ended September 30, 2013, ATCO’s revenue rose 3.5% to $1.02 billion from $981.0 million a year earlier. That’s mainly because higher power rates in Alberta increased Canadian Utilities’ contribution. The structures division’s revenue fell 2.5% after it completed three contracts to build temporary housing and offices at an Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in late 2012 and early 2013.

Earnings jumped 63.0%, to $132 million, or $1.15 a share, from $81 million, or $0.71. Without unusual items, earnings rose 6.3%.
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Clarke Inc., $8.01, symbol CKI on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 16.6 million; Market cap: $141.3 million; www.clarkeinc.com), is a holding company with interests in products and services in the transportation, industrial, energy and consumer areas. It also invests in securities. Clarke continues to evolve from a trucking firm into an investment holding company. It recently purchased 5.2% of Sherritt International (symbol S on Toronto), a recommendation of Stock Pickers Digest. However, its strategy mainly involves investing in and turning around small, distressed companies, which adds risk. The stock has moved up from around $5 in August. That’s when Clarke announced strong earnings and increased its dividend by 25%, to $0.10 a quarter from $0.08. The shares now yield 5.0%. However, the improved profits mostly came from investment gains, not operating businesses, and that could change quickly....

Holding companies give you an easy way to buy a variety of businesses at a discount. As well, their structure makes it easy for them to unlock hidden value by selling undervalued subsidiaries.

For example, Maple Leaf Foods has risen sharply since it said it would sell Canada Bread....

SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL (Toronto symbol S; www.sherritt.com) is a diversified natural resource company that produces nickel, cobalt, thermal coal, oil and gas. It also manages 356 megawatts of power generation capacity in Cuba, with an additional 150 megawatts starting up soon....

SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL CORP., $3.70, symbol S on Toronto, has announced that it plans to sell all of its coal interests. A group led by Altius Minerals (symbol ALS on Toronto) will buy Sherritt’s development-stage coal projects and mining royalties for cash of $481 million. In addition, Westmoreland Coal (symbol WLB on Nasdaq) will purchase Sherritt’s operating coal mines for cash of $312 million. Westmoreland will also assume $153 million of equipment lease obligations. These sales will let Sherritt focus on its nickel, cobalt and oil interests and pay down some of its $2.1-billion debt....

PENGROWTH ENERGY $6.57 (Toronto symbol PGF; Shares outstanding: 517.7 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 7.3%; www.pengrowth.com) has gained over 31% since early July 2013. That’s mainly because the company has successfully completed its plan to sell some of its less important oil and gas properties in Western Canada.

The cash from these sales will help Pengrowth speed up the development of its Lindbergh oil sands project in Alberta....