price to sales ratio

DUNDEE CORP. $17 (Toronto symbol DC.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 53.5 million; Market cap: $909.5 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.5; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dundeecorp.com) owns businesses in the wealth management, real estate, natural resource and agriculture industries.

Dundee is more risky than most of the stocks we recommend. Many brokers avoid it due to its complex holding company structure, so it has little following among institutional investors. Irregular earnings from real estate and resource operations also add to its risk, and the lack of a dividend hurts its appeal.

However, like most holding companies, Dundee typically trades at a discount to the market value of the assets it held. Occasionally, it would unlock some of this value, as it did in 2011 when it sold its Dynamic mutual fund operations. In 2013, it spun off its commercial real estate subsidiary —DREAM Unlimited (Toronto symbol DRM)—as a separate company.

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IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $57 (Toronto symbol IMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $48.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 0.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) is Canada’s third-largest publicly traded oil company, after Suncor Energy and Canadian Natural Resources. Imperial is a 69.6%- owned subsidiary of U.S.-based ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbol XOM).

About 80% of Imperial’s oil production comes from its oil sands operations in Alberta, including its 25% stake in the Syncrude project.

It also has conventional oil and natural gas operations in Western Canada and owns interests in offshore projects in Atlantic Canada. Based on its current daily output, Imperial’s 3.6 billion barrels of proven reserves should last 35 years.

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Imperial Oil recently opened the first phase of its massive Kearl oil sands project in Alberta, and the second phase should start up next year. This project will help the company double its production, to 600,000 barrels a day, by 2020. Oil sands projects are harder to operate than conventional properties, and they need high oil prices to earn a profit. However, Imperial’s refineries help shield it from a drop in oil prices, because they would pay less for the crude they need. IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $57 (Toronto symbol IMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $48.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 0.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) is Canada’s third-largest publicly traded oil company, after Suncor Energy and Canadian Natural Resources. Imperial is a 69.6%- owned subsidiary of U.S.-based ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbol XOM)....

DUNDEE CORP. $17 (Toronto symbol DC.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 53.5 million; Market cap: $909.5 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.5; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.dundeecorp.com) owns businesses in the wealth management, real estate, natural resource and agriculture industries. Dundee is more risky than most of the stocks we recommend. Many brokers avoid it due to its complex holding company structure, so it has little following among institutional investors. Irregular earnings from real estate and resource operations also add to its risk, and the lack of a dividend hurts its appeal. However, like most holding companies, Dundee typically trades at a discount to the market value of the assets it held. Occasionally, it would unlock some of this value, as it did in 2011 when it sold its Dynamic mutual fund operations. In 2013, it spun off its commercial real estate subsidiary —DREAM Unlimited (Toronto symbol DRM)—as a separate company....

The U.S. Federal Reserve has indicated that it will probably end its bond-purchasing program, known as quantitative easing, as early as October 2014. After that, the Fed may raise interest rates, particularly if inflation becomes a problem. Higher interest rates in the U.S. would likely push up rates in Canada and elsewhere, slowing demand for mortgages and car loans. However, Canada’s big banks continue to expand into feebased services, like wealth management, which are less sensitive to interest rates. We continue to like all five banks, but we prefer TD and Bank of Nova Scotia for new buying....

EMERA INC. $34 (Toronto symbol EMA; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 142.6 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.emera.com) has agreed to pay $390 million for 34.9% of a line that will transmit power from a new hydro-electric plant in Labrador to the island of Newfoundland. In addition, Emera will spend $1.6 billion on an undersea line that will transmit 20% of this facility’s power to Nova Scotia. These projects, which should start up in 2017, will help Emera comply with new Nova Scotia regulations that require it to get 40% of its power from renewable sources by 2030, up from 17% today. Emera is a buy.

CGI GROUP INC. $38 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 309.6 million; Market cap: $11.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cgi.com) has won a contract to help modernize the Michigan state government’s computer systems. The revenue from this deal—$89.4 million U.S.—is small next to the company’s annual revenue of $10 billion. Still, deals like this enhance CGI’s reputation in the wake of the well-publicized problems it had launching the Obamacare website. CGI Group is a buy.

POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $39 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 837.9 million; Market cap: $32.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.6; Dividend yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) is up 10% since the start of 2014. That’s mainly because potash miners cut their output in response to the July 2013 breakup of a marketing alliance between producers in Russia and Belarus. These reductions have increased prices from their recent low of $310 U.S. a tonne to $350. Prices should remain steady, particularly because North American farmers will need more fertilizer to replenish their soil after last year’s record crops. However, the stock trades at a high 22.0 times the $1.65 U.S. a share the company will probably earn in 2014. Potash Corp. is still a hold.

A key part of successful investing involves picking stocks with hard-to-replace assets, like popular brand names. Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons are two leading examples. Both firms have built their brands over decades, and both have become synonymous with Canada. That gives them a big advantage when launching new products and competing with bigger U.S. chains. CANADIAN TIRE CORP. $103 (Toronto symbol CTC.A; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 79.7 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) operates 492 Canadian Tire stores, which specialize in automotive, household and sporting goods. It also owns other retail chains, such as Mark’s (casual clothing) and SportChek....

CAE INC. $14 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 264.0 million; Market cap: $3.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) has received orders for seven flight simulators and related equipment. In all, these deals are worth $120 million, or 6% of CAE’s $2.1 billion of annual revenue. The company has sold 11 flight simulators since its 2015 fiscal year began on April 1, 2014. In fiscal 2014, the company sold a record 48 simulators. CAE is our #1 buy for 2014.