investment

EXTENDICARE INC. $9.30 (Toronto symbol EXE; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (905-470-5534; www.extendicare.com; Shares outstanding: 87.8 million; Market cap: $798.3 million; Dividend yield: 5.2%) has called a special shareholder meeting for March 8, 2016. The move is in response to a formal request from its largest investor, Toronto-based investment firm Oxford Park Group. In July 2015, Oxford Park acquired 5% of Extendicare, with the intention of pushing the company to enhance shareholder value. As part of that plan, Oxford Park wants to replace seven of Extendicare’s nine directors with its own nominees. It also believes the company’s move into retirement homes from its main business of chronic- and longterm care facilities has added unnecessary risk. Moreover, Oxford Park wants Extendicare to buy back up to $50 million worth of its shares, cut costs to boost its profit margins and tie more of its directors’ and executives’ pay to the company’s performance....

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC. $45 (Nasdaq symbol MDLZ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $72.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mondelezinternational.com) makes cookies and biscuits (Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Ritz), chocolate bars (Cadbury, Toblerone), gum and candy (Trident, Chiclets) and Halls cough drops. In July 2015, Mondelez merged its packaged coffee business with European coffee maker D.E. Master Blenders. Under the deal, Mondelez contributed its coffee brands, including Jacobs, Gevalia and Tassimo, to a new firm called Jacobs Douwe Egberts. In return, it received $4.2 billion in cash and 43.5% of the new company. If you exclude unusual items, such as a $6.9-billion gain on this sale, Mondelez earned $678 million in the three months ended September 30, 2015, down 20.1% from $849 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 16.0%, to $0.42 from $0.50, on fewer shares outstanding. The sale of the coffee business cut Mondelez’s sales by 17.8%, to $6.8 billion from $8.3 billion. However, if you adjust for the sale and foreign exchange rates, sales improved 3.7%....

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS INC. $54 (New York symbol BR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 118.6 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.broadridge.com) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada. Broadridge was a subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing until April 2007, when ADP spun it off as a separate firm. Acquisitions drive profits higher...

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A: NorthWest HealthCare Properties REIT, $8.10, symbol NWH.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 52.5 million; Market cap: $420.2 million; www.nwhp.ca), owns 123 properties, with a focus on medical office buildings and clinics (70% of its portfolio) and hospitals (30%). The real estate investment trust is Canada’s largest non-government owner and operator of medical office buildings.

In all, NorthWest’s properties contain 8.0 million square feet of leasable area. Its Canadian holdings are concentrated in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax. It also owns buildings in Brazil, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. NorthWest has a 95.8% occupancy rate.

The REIT first sold units to the public for $10 each and began trading on Toronto on March 25, 2010.

In the three months ended September 30, 2015, NorthWest’s revenue jumped to $63.3 million from $11.8 million a year earlier. That’s because it recently merged with its international affiliate in an all-stock transaction.

Cash flow jumped 67.4%, to $14.4 million from $8.6 million. However, cash flow per unit fell 20.0%, to $0.20 from $0.25, on more units outstanding after the merger.

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BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $54.44 New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 118.6 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; Dividend yield: 2.2%) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada. Without one-time items, Broadridge earned $39.6 million in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended September 30, 2015. That’s up 7.9% from $36.7 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 10.0%, to $0.33 from $0.30, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue gained 7.0%, to $594.7 million from $555.8 million. The company continues to add new clients and is doing a good job of holding onto existing ones. Recurring fee revenue rose 10.0% in the latest quarter and accounted for 66% of the total....

CANADIAN REIT (Toronto symbol REF.UN owns 198 properties, including retail, industrial and office buildings, across Canada and in Chicago.

REITMANS (CANADA) LTD., $4.02, symbol RET.A on Toronto, owns 775 women’s clothing stores across Canada. The chain consists of 332 Reitmans, 136 Penningtons, 107 Addition Elle, 83 RW & Co., 68 Thyme Maternity, 17 Hyda and 32 Smart Set outlets. It also has 21 Thyme Maternity boutiques in Canadian Babies “R” Us stores. In the three months ended October 31, 2015, Reitmans’ sales rose slightly, to $240.3 million from $238.3 million a year earlier. Same-store sales gained 7.6%, with brick-and-mortar stores increasing 4.8% and e-commerce jumping 72.2%....