price to sales ratio

CAE INC. $15 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 263.8 million; Market cap: $4.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) has a long history of developing flight simulators for Bombardier’s aircraft....

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $24 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 566.9 million; Market cap: $13.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teck.com) has decided against building a pipeline that would pump treated waste water from its Red Dog open-pit zinc mine in northern Alaska to the Arctic Ocean. Under an agreement with environmental regulators, Teck spent $1.7 million studying the line. However, seasonal freezing and thawing would likely damage it if it ran underground. Teck also concluded that an above-ground line, which would have cost $261 million U.S., was not viable. Instead, Teck will keep processing waste water at the mine and releasing it into the local creek. The decision to not build a pipeline also means it has to pay an $8-million U.S. fine. That’s equal to 8% of Teck’s 2014 first quarter earnings of $105 million (Canadian), or $0.18 a share....

TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $16 (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 78.0 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) earned $36.8 million in its fiscal 2014 second quarter, which ended April 30, 2014....

AGRIUM INC. $99 (Toronto symbol AGU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 144.0 million; Market cap: $14.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agrium.com) continues to benefit from its plan to expand its retail operations, which sell seed, fertilizer and other products to farmers....

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $93 (New York symbol FICO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 31.1 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 0.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.fico.com) makes FICO Scores, a computer program that helps businesses make better decisions about customer creditworthiness. FICO Scores dominates this niche market. Fair Isaac also sells software that helps credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns.

In January 2015, Fair Isaac paid $59.6 million for Tonbeller, a German firm whose software helps banks and insurance companies detect and prevent money laundering and fraud.

In its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended March 31, 2015, the company’s revenue increased 11.7%, to $207.1 million from $185.5 million a year earlier. Tonbeller contributed $3.2 million to revenue in the latest quarter.

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In February 2014, Microsoft replaced Steve Ballmer, its longtime chief executive officer, with Satya Nadella, who previously headed up the company’s profitable server software division.

Since then, the stock has gained 12%. That’s mainly because Mr. Nadella plans to focus on the fast-growing mobile and cloud markets....

GOOGLE INC. $562 (Nasdaq symbol GOOG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 674.5 million; Market cap: $379.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.1; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.google.com) recently handed out its new class C non-voting shares to its class A (one vote per share) and class B (10 votes per share) shareholders....

Businesses will likely spend more on software this year, as the global economy continues to recover. That’s good news for these market leaders, but Symantec’s focus on security puts it in a better position to benefit as more companies adopt cloud computing. ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $65 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 497.7 million; Market cap: $32.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 8.3; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) earned $151.3 million, or $0.30 a share, in its fiscal 2014 first quarter, which ended February 28, 2014. That’s down 14.9% from $177.9 million, or $0.35, a year ago. Revenue fell 0.8%, to $1.00 billion from $1.01 billion. The declines are mainly because Adobe is now selling its Creative Cloud package of photo-editing and desktop-publishing programs as a subscription instead of a one-time purchase. That hurts the company’s short-term growth, but it should provide stable revenue streams as more users switch over. Subscriptions now supply over half of Adobe’s revenue....

NVIDIA CORP. $19 (Nasdaq symbol NVDA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 558.0 million; Market cap: $10.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nvidia.com) earned $166.1 million in the quarter ended April 27, 2014....

Sales are slowing at these three beverage makers, mainly because health-conscious consumers are cutting back on sugary drinks and alcohol. Even so, we feel their well-known brands will continue to help them prosper. They’re also doing a good job of cutting their costs, which is freeing up additional cash for acquisitions and dividends. However, in light of their recent gains, only one is a buy right now. PEPSICO INC. $87 (New York symbol PEP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $130.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) is the world’s second-largest soft drink maker after Coca-Cola. It also makes other products, such as Frito-Lay snack foods, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana fruit juices and Quaker Oats cereals....