option

SHAWCOR LTD. $41 (Toronto symbol SCL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 58.8 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.shawcor.com) has completed its plan to convert its class A (one vote per share) and class B (10 votes per share) shares into a single class of common shares (one vote per share).

Under the plan, each class A share became one common share....

BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.06 and BBD.B $4.06; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $6.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) has received a firm order for 32 of its new CSeries passenger jets from Russian aircraft leasing firm Ilyushin Finance Co.

If Ilyushin exercises its option to buy an additional 10 planes, the entire order would be worth $3.4 billion U.S. That’s equal to 20% of Bombardier’s 2012 revenue of $16.8 billion U.S. The company did not say when it would begin deliveries, as it is still developing the CSeries plane. It plans to begin test flights in June 2013.

The subordinate-voting class B shares are the better choice because of their slightly better liquidity and higher dividend yield.
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AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $66 (New York symbol AXP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $72.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.- americanexpress.com) has passed the Federal Reserve’s latest “stress test,” which measures how well banks and other financial firms would cope with a sharp jump in unemployment, falling stock prices and other unfavourable economic conditions.

As a result, the company raised its quarterly dividend by 15.0%, to $0.23 a share from $0.20....

GENUINE PARTS CO. $77 (New York symbol GPC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 154.9 million; Market cap: $11.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.genpt.com) has exercised its option to buy full control of privately held Exego Group, which sells auto parts through 290 stores in Australia and 92 in New Zealand.

Genuine Parts paid $150 million for 30% of Exego in January 2012. It will pay $800 million for the remaining 70% when the deal closes in April 2013.

This is a big purchase for Genuine Parts, which earned $648.0 million, or $4.14 a share, in 2012. However, Exego is profitable, and this purchase will cut the company’s reliance on North America, which accounts for nearly all of its sales.
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CONAGRA FOODS INC., $34.77, New York symbol CAG, has agreed to merge its flour-milling operations into a new joint venture. Under the terms of the deal, ConAgra, privately held Cargill Inc. and CHS Inc. (Nasdaq symbol CHSCP) will combine their North American mills into a new business called Ardent Mills. ConAgra and Cargill will each own 44% of Ardent Mills. CHS will own the remaining 12%. In total, Ardent Mills will own 44 flour mills and four bakeries. It will sell its products to various food makers....

ANDREW PELLER LTD. $11 (Toronto symbol ADW.A; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 14.3 million; Market cap: $157.3 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.andrewpeller.com) reported that its sales rose 4.2% in the three months ended December 31, 2012, to $79.8 million from $76.6 million a year earlier....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC., $27.11, Toronto symbol GWO, has agreed to buy Irish Life Group Ltd., Ireland’s largest pension manager and life insurance provider. The company has over 1 million clients and $50 billion of assets under management. The government of Ireland purchased Irish Life in June 2012, after its former parent company, Irish Life & Permanent, ran into financial difficulty. Great-West will pay $1.75 billion for Irish Life when the deal closes in July 2013. To put that in context, Great-West earned $2.0 billion, or $2.06 a share, in 2012. To help pay for this purchase, Great-West will sell $1.25 billion of new common shares at $25.70 each. That will increase the number of shares outstanding by 5%....

You can draw a number of conclusions from the Heinz takeover, and some make more sense than others. For instance, some Heinz investors are upset that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is supplying more than half of the capital in this $23 billion takeover. They assume, based on Buffett’s involvement and his reputation as a canny investor, that if Warren is buying, the $72.50 a share takeover price must be a better deal for buyers than for sellers. Note, however, that Mr. Buffett’s involvement—what you might think of as the “Warren Buffett seal of approval”—makes it cheaper and easier to arrange financing for the deal. It also makes it possible for the bidding group to come up with a bid that wins quick acceptance. The only way to do that is to offer the sellers a good price and/or good terms....

C.R. BARD INC. $102 (New York symbol BCR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 82.3 million; Market cap: $8.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 0.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. crbard.com) sued W.L....

PLEASE NOTE: Next week, Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that focuses on the U.S. stock markets, will reveal its #1 pick for 2013. SHAWCOR LTD., $40.88, Toronto symbol SCL.A, plans to convert its class A subordinate voting (one vote per share) and class B multiple voting (10 votes per share) shares into a single class of common shares (one vote per share). The company makes sealants and coatings that keep oil and gas pipelines from rusting. It also manufactures industrial products, such as electrical wire and protective sheaths....