price to sales ratio

Windstream is spinning off some of its real estate assets, while Frontier (see box) recently expanded by acquisition. Both approaches should let these telecoms maintain their above-average dividend yields. However, their heavy focus on rural areas, plus the rising cost of expanding and upgrading their networks, limits their growth prospects. WINDSTREAM HOLDINGS INC. $10 (Nasdaq symbol WIN; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 602.8 million; Market cap: $6.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 10.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.windstream.com) gets 73% of its revenue by selling high-speed Internet and other communication services to 357,700 businesses....

FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS CORP. $7.06 (Nasdaq symbol FTR; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $7.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 5.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.frontier.com) recently paid $2.0 billion for AT&T’s traditional phone business in Connecticut. The company now has 3.0 million residential and business customers in 28 states. Excluding acquisition-related costs, Frontier earned $47.7 million, or $0.05 a share, in the third quarter of 2014. That’s down 15.6% from $56.5 million, or $0.06 a share, a year earlier. Even with the AT&T operations, revenue fell 3.7%, to $1.14 billion from $1.19 billion, as lower telephone revenue offset higher sales of Internet services. The company borrowed most of the cash it needed for this purchase, which increased its long-term debt to $9.2 billion, or 1.3 times its market cap....

DIEBOLD INC. $36 (New York symbol DBD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 64.6 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www. diebold.com) aims to save a total of $150 million by the end of 2015, mainly through layoffs and plant closures. In the third quarter of 2014, the company earned $33.0 million, or $0.51 a share, up from a year-earlier loss of $21.7 million, or $0.34. Without unusual items, earnings per share fell 3.6%, to $0.54 from $0.56. Sales gained 8.9%, to $768.0 million from $705.4 million. Stronger demand for automated teller machines in Europe and Asia offset slower sales in North America and Latin America. Diebold also sold more security systems....

VISA INC. $257 (New York symbol V; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 620.0 million; Market cap: $159.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 12.8; Dividend yield: 0.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.visa.com) operates the world’s largest electronic payments network, through which it processes credit, debit, prepaid and commercial transactions. Visa gets most of its revenue from fees it charges the card issuers and merchants that use its network. It bases these fees on transaction volumes and other factors. The banks that issue the cards are responsible for evaluating customer creditworthiness and collecting payments, not Visa. Thanks to the continued growth of online shopping, which has encouraged more credit and debit card use, Visa’s revenue rose 57.5%, from $8.1 billion in fiscal 2010 to $12.7 billion in 2014 (fiscal years end September 30)....

BELL ALIANT INC. $27 (Toronto symbol BA, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 227.8 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 7.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bellaliant.ca) ells telephone and Internet services to 2.5 million customers in Atlantic Canada, as well as rural parts of Ontario and Quebec. It also sells wireless services through an alliance with BCE, which owns 45% of Bell Aliant.

The company continues to replace its copper-wire cables with fibre optic lines. This lets it sell more high-speed Internet and digital TV subscriptions, and offset declining sales of its regular phone services, which still supply 60% of its revenue.

Bell Aliant expects to spend $550 million to $600 million on network upgrades in 2012, compared to $573 million in 2011. Its fibre optic systems now reach 621,000 homes. The company plans to increase that to 650,000 by the end of 2012.

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CAE INC. $15 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 265.3 million; Market cap: $4.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) gets 55% of its revenue by selling flight simulators and pilot-training services to commercial airlines. Another 40% comes from simulators and training for military clients, mainly in the U.S.

CAE gets the remaining 5% of its sales by making medical-simulation products, such as mannequins, for training nurses and medical students.

Steady growth in revenue, earnings

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RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 308.9 million; Market cap: $8.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.8; Dividend yield: 5.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) continues to open new malls and, with partners, mixed-use properties with office and residential space. The trust is also selling less profitable properties.

In the third quarter of 2014, RioCan’s net leasable area shrank by 2.5%, to 71.6 million square feet from 73.5 million a year earlier. But thanks to strong demand from retailers, it’s renewing leases at higher rental rates. That’s why its cash flow rose 7.4% in the latest quarter, to $131 million from $122 million. Cash flow per unit gained 5.0%, to $0.42 from $0.40, on more units outstanding.

The units trade at a reasonable 15.9 times RioCan’s expected 2014 cash flow of $1.70 a unit. The $1.41 distribution yields 5.2%.

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POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $38 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 829.7 million; Market cap: $31.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.5; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) has agreed to invest $52 million in its sulphuric acid plants in the U.S. (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars).

These improvements, part of a settlement with environmental regulators, will cut these facilities’ emissions. Potash Corp. will also pay a $1.3-million fine.

The total cost of $53.3 million is equal to 17% of the $317 million, or $0.38 a share, the company earned in the three months ended September 30, 2014. The latest earnings are also down 11.0%, from $356 million, or $0.41 a share, a year earlier. Sales rose 8.0%, to $1.6 billion from $1.5 billion, as higher potash volumes offset an 8.5% drop in average prices.

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IGM FINANCIAL INC. $48 (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 251.7 million; Market cap: $12.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.3; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.igmfinancial.com) is Canada’s largest independent mutual fund company. Power Financial (Toronto symbol PFC) owns 58.7% of IGM.

In the three months ended September 30, 2014, IGM’s earnings rose 13.6%, to $219.7 million, or $0.87 a share. A year earlier, it earned $193.4 million, or $0.77. Revenue increased 12.4%, to $750.2 million from $667.5 million. Gross sales of mutual funds rose 4.4%, while redemptions fell 26.6%.

IGM should earn $3.30 a share in 2014, and the stock trades at a reasonable 14.5 times that forecast. It also raised its dividend by 4.7%. The new rate of $2.25 a share yields 4.7%.

IGM Financial is a buy.

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LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $60 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 412.4 million; Market cap: $24.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) has sold 15 stores and one warehouse to Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (Toronto symbol CHP.UN).

Loblaw received $211.9 million, which is equal to 57% of the $371.0 million, or $0.90 a share, that it earned in the three months ended October 4, 2014. That total included $112.2 million of Choice Properties’ units. As a result, Loblaw now owns 83.0% of this REIT.

Loblaw is a buy....