investment

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC. $42 (Nasdaq symbol MDLZ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $67.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 1.6%; 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. The stock gained 10% recently on news that activist investment firm Pershing Square Capital now owns 7.5% of the company. Pershing will likely pressure Mondelez to improve its profitability, instead of trying to break it up or merge it with another food maker. However, the stock is expensive at 23.6 times the company’s projected 2015 earnings of $1.78 a share. Mondelez is a hold.

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS INC. $52 (New York symbol BR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 118.2 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.broadridge.com) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. Without one-time items, the company earned $171.5 million in its fiscal 2015 fourth quarter, which ended June 30, 2015. That’s up 18.6% from $144.6 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 20.7%, to $1.40 from $1.16, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue gained 4.9%, to $929.6 million from $885.9 million. Broadridge continues to add new clients and is doing a good job of holding on to existing ones. Recurring fee revenue rose 7% in the latest quarter and accounted for 65% of the total....

Extendicare Inc., $7.76, symbol EXE on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 87.6 million; Market cap: $670.3 million; www.extendicare.com), owns and operates 57 long- and short-term senior-care facilities that can house 8,118 residents. It also manages a further 95 facilities that are home to 6,195 residents. About 73% of the company’s residents are in Ontario and 16% are in Alberta. The rest are in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Through its ParaMed Home Health Care division, Extendicare operates 47 branches in six provinces (Ontario, B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia). That total includes recently acquired Revera Home Health (see below). ParaMed’s 10,900 staff members provide nursing care, occupational, physical and speech therapy and assistance with daily activities to accommodate clients who live at home....

BMO US Dividend Hedged to CAD ETF, $17.36, symbol ZUD on Toronto (Units outstanding: 5.3 million; Market cap: $92.0 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), holds U.S. stocks that have maintained or increased their dividend rates over the last three years and meet other criteria, including yield and dividend payout ratio. The fund’s managers rebalance the underlying portfolio in June and December. Top holdings are Philip Morris International, ONEOK Inc., Garmin, Noble Corp., Verizon Communications, Mattel, Williams Cos., Gamestop, McDonald’s and Darden Restaurants. The ETF is hedged against movements of foreign currencies against the Canadian dollar. Its value rises and falls solely with the stocks in its portfolio, so it wouldn’t give you any diversification through foreign currency exposure....

Clarke Inc., $10.62, symbol CKI on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 15.6 million; Market cap: $164.1 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. However, its strategy mainly involves investing in and turning around small, distressed firms, which adds risk. From time to time, it also buys hard assets: in February 2015 it sold its container vessel, the MV Shamrock for $4.6 million U.S. It made a small profit, but the purchase of the ship at a tax-lien auction in 2004 never paid off as expected....

H&R REIT builds with takeovers, Canadian REIT builds from within, and we like both for their strong dividend yields and sound prospects.

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $35 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 996.9 million; Market cap: $35.0 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend Yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest insurance company, after Manulife Financial (Toronto symbol MFC). It also offers mutual funds, retirement planning and wealth management. Power Financial (Toronto symbol PWF) owns 67.1% of Great-West.

As of June 30, 2015, the company had $1.15 trillion of assets under administration, up 7.9% from $1.06 trillion at the end of 2014.

Diversified operations cut risk

...

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $26 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 318.3 million; Market cap: $8.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.5; Dividend yield: 5.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) has found new tenants for seven of the 26 former Target stores in its malls. It will have to remodel the remaining 19, but it expects to lease them all within the next two years.

Target’s U.S. parent company guaranteed the leases on the Canadian stores, but it has not yet paid RioCan the lost rental payments. If RioCan is unable to find new tenants, Target may have to pay the trust up to $250 million.

RioCan is a buy.

...

Successful expansion in Ireland is just one reason Great-West Lifeco gets our nod as one of Canada’s top financial blue chip stocks.

ISHARES CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $15.79 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds the 15 Canadian real estate investment trusts in the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index.

iShares CDN REIT’s expenses are 0.60% of its assets. The fund yields 5.1%.

The ETF’s largest holding is RioCan REIT at 20.1%, followed by H&R REIT (14.6%), Smart REIT (7.9%), Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (7.9%), Canadian REIT (7.3%), Allied Properties REIT (6.7%), Cominar REIT (6.5%), Dream Office REIT (6.1%), Boardwalk REIT (5.3%), Granite REIT (4.5%), Artis REIT (4.3%), Dream Global REIT (2.5%), Crombie REIT (2.3%), Pure Industrial REIT (2.1%) and Northern Property REIT (1.6%).

...