price to sales ratio
MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. (Toronto symbols TPX.A $85 and TPX.B $85; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 185.3 million; Market cap: $15.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.molson coors.com) is the world’s fifth-largest brewer by production volume. Its main brands include Coors Light, Molson Canadian and Carling.
Overall beer consumption in North America has declined in the past few years, mainly because baby boomers are switching to wine and spirits.
Moving beyond North America
...
Overall beer consumption in North America has declined in the past few years, mainly because baby boomers are switching to wine and spirits.
Moving beyond North America
...
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $79 (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $110.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.8; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) earned $2.3 billion in its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter, which ended October 31, 2014. That’s up 11.0% from $2.1 billion a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose 12.9%, to $1.57 from $1.39, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue improved 5.8%, to $8.4 billion from $7.9 billion.
Earnings at Royal’s Canadian and U.S. retail banking division (which supplied 52% of the total) rose 7.6% on strong loan growth and higher fee-based income. The securities trading division (18% of total earnings) saw its profits fall 14.3% on lower trading volumes, and costs to comply with new U.S. securities regulations.
The bank’s wealth management division (13%) reported 41.1% higher earnings, mainly because rising stock prices increased the value of its assets under administration. Insurance earnings (12%) jumped 139.3%, mainly because a charge related to new Canadian tax laws depressed the year-earlier earnings. Without this charge, this business’s earnings rose 14% on fewer claims. The investor and treasury services business’s earnings (5%) gained 24.2%, thanks to higher deposit volumes and better efficiency.
...
Earnings at Royal’s Canadian and U.S. retail banking division (which supplied 52% of the total) rose 7.6% on strong loan growth and higher fee-based income. The securities trading division (18% of total earnings) saw its profits fall 14.3% on lower trading volumes, and costs to comply with new U.S. securities regulations.
The bank’s wealth management division (13%) reported 41.1% higher earnings, mainly because rising stock prices increased the value of its assets under administration. Insurance earnings (12%) jumped 139.3%, mainly because a charge related to new Canadian tax laws depressed the year-earlier earnings. Without this charge, this business’s earnings rose 14% on fewer claims. The investor and treasury services business’s earnings (5%) gained 24.2%, thanks to higher deposit volumes and better efficiency.
...
TORSTAR CORP. $6.14 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 80.2 million; Market cap: $492.4 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 8.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.torstar.com) recently stopped publishing its Metro free daily commuter newspapers in seven smaller cities: Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Windsor, Regina, Saskatoon and Victoria. The company now plans to shut down the Metro websites in these cities.
This will let Torstar focus on Metro’s moreprofitable print and web editions in Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Torstar is a buy.
...
This will let Torstar focus on Metro’s moreprofitable print and web editions in Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Torstar is a buy.
...
ENCANA CORP. $15 (Toronto symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 741.1 million; Market cap: $11.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) has completed its $7.1-billion U.S. purchase of Athlon Energy, which produces oil (80% of output) and gas (20%) in Texas’s Midland Basin.
The company will devote 80% of its 2015 capital spending to its oil properties, which would remain profitable even if oil declines to between $35 and $50 U.S. a barrel.
Encana is a buy.
...
The company will devote 80% of its 2015 capital spending to its oil properties, which would remain profitable even if oil declines to between $35 and $50 U.S. a barrel.
Encana is a buy.
...
IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $48 (Toronto symbol IMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $40.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) has resumed production at its Kearl oil sands project in northern Alberta.
The company was forced to shut down Kearl due to problems with a machine that separates heavy oil from sand. In the third quarter, Kearl supplied 30% of Imperial’s daily output of 307,000 barrels.
The recent oil-price drop has cut the stock’s price by 17.2% from its August 2014 peak of $58. However, low crude prices will benefit Imperial’s refining and petrochemical operations, which supplied 43% of its earnings in the latest quarter. The company may also take advantage of low prices to pick up new properties at a bargain.
...
The company was forced to shut down Kearl due to problems with a machine that separates heavy oil from sand. In the third quarter, Kearl supplied 30% of Imperial’s daily output of 307,000 barrels.
The recent oil-price drop has cut the stock’s price by 17.2% from its August 2014 peak of $58. However, low crude prices will benefit Imperial’s refining and petrochemical operations, which supplied 43% of its earnings in the latest quarter. The company may also take advantage of low prices to pick up new properties at a bargain.
...
POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $40 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 829.7 million; Market cap: $33.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.4; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) gets 40% of its revenue and 50% of its earnings from potash, followed by nitrogen (35%, 40%) and phosphate (25%, 10%) fertilizers.
The company sold its potash for an average of $281 U.S. a tonne in the third quarter of 2014, down 8.5% from $307 U.S. a year earlier.
It now expects to sell 9.0 million to 9.2 million tonnes of potash for all of 2014, up from 8.1 million in 2013. However, lower selling prices will cut its earnings to a projected $1.80 U.S. a share from $2.09 U.S. The stock trades at a somewhat high 19.3 times the 2014 estimate. The $1.40 U.S. dividend yields 4.0%.
...
The company sold its potash for an average of $281 U.S. a tonne in the third quarter of 2014, down 8.5% from $307 U.S. a year earlier.
It now expects to sell 9.0 million to 9.2 million tonnes of potash for all of 2014, up from 8.1 million in 2013. However, lower selling prices will cut its earnings to a projected $1.80 U.S. a share from $2.09 U.S. The stock trades at a somewhat high 19.3 times the 2014 estimate. The $1.40 U.S. dividend yields 4.0%.
...
AGRIUM INC. $109 (Toronto symbol AGU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 143.7 million; Market cap: $15.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agrium.com) gets just 3% of its revenue from potash, so the Russian mine shutdown will have little impact on its short-term earnings.
Agrium’s 1,400 retail stores supply 78% of its revenue. Nitrogen fertilizers it manufactures from natural gas provide the remaining 19%.
Equipment failures have forced the company to shut down its Vanscoy potash mine in Saskatchewan. Agrium is taking advantage of this outage to increase this project’s capacity by 40%.
...
Agrium’s 1,400 retail stores supply 78% of its revenue. Nitrogen fertilizers it manufactures from natural gas provide the remaining 19%.
Equipment failures have forced the company to shut down its Vanscoy potash mine in Saskatchewan. Agrium is taking advantage of this outage to increase this project’s capacity by 40%.
...
THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $45 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 799.7 million; Market cap: $36.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) is seeing higher demand for its financial information products for the first time since the 2008 economic crisis. Sales at its legal and tax and accounting businesses are also improving.
In the three months ended September 30, 2014, Thomson’s overall revenue rose 1.1%, to $3.11 billion from $3.07 billion a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars).
The financial division’s revenue (54% of the total) fell 0.7%. But banks and other clients are buying more products than they’re cancelling, which should raise this division’s future revenue.
...
In the three months ended September 30, 2014, Thomson’s overall revenue rose 1.1%, to $3.11 billion from $3.07 billion a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars).
The financial division’s revenue (54% of the total) fell 0.7%. But banks and other clients are buying more products than they’re cancelling, which should raise this division’s future revenue.
...
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $202 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 171.5 million; Market cap: $34.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.6; Dividend yield: 0.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cpr.ca) is down 18.5% from its recent peak of $248, partly due to the drop in oil prices. Even through cheaper crude will cut CP’s fuel costs, investors fear that producers will defer new projects, which could hurt the company’s crude-by-rail volumes.
Oil accounts for just 7% of the company’s revenue, so any production drop would have little impact on its earnings.
Moreover, CP continues to do a good job of cutting its costs. In the third quarter of 2014, its operating ratio improved to 62.8% from 65.9% a year earlier. (Operating ratio is calculated by dividing regular operating costs by revenue. The lower the ratio, the better.)
...
Oil accounts for just 7% of the company’s revenue, so any production drop would have little impact on its earnings.
Moreover, CP continues to do a good job of cutting its costs. In the third quarter of 2014, its operating ratio improved to 62.8% from 65.9% a year earlier. (Operating ratio is calculated by dividing regular operating costs by revenue. The lower the ratio, the better.)
...
BCE INC. $52 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 839.6 million; Market cap: $43.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 4.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) is buying Glentel Inc. (Toronto symbol GLN), which sells mobile phones and subscription plans through 494 Canadian stores, mainly under under the Wireless Wave banner. Glentel also has 735 U.S. outlets and 147 in Australia and the Philippines.
The company will pay $594 million (50% cash and 50% in BCE common shares) for Glentel’s outstanding shares. If you include Glentel’s debt, the entire deal is worth $670 million. BCE expects to complete it in the first quarter of 2015.
The Glentel stores will keep selling subscription plans from rival wireless carriers. However, BCE feels the new outlets will help it win more customers, particularly as Ottawa now limits mobile contract terms to two years or less.
...
The company will pay $594 million (50% cash and 50% in BCE common shares) for Glentel’s outstanding shares. If you include Glentel’s debt, the entire deal is worth $670 million. BCE expects to complete it in the first quarter of 2015.
The Glentel stores will keep selling subscription plans from rival wireless carriers. However, BCE feels the new outlets will help it win more customers, particularly as Ottawa now limits mobile contract terms to two years or less.
...