price to sales ratio

SHERWIN-WILLIAMS CO. $373 (New York symbol SHW; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 93.6 million; Market cap: $34.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 0.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.sherwin-williams.com) completed its all-cash acquisition of rival paint maker Valspar Corp....

ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO. $46 (New York symbol ADM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 558.9 million; Market cap: $25.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.adm.com) processes corn, wheat, soybeans, flaxseed, peanuts and other crops to make a variety of food ingredients such as flour, oils and sweeteners....

TERADATA CORP. $40 (New York symbol TDC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 120.9 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teradata.com) makes computers and software to capture and store large amounts of data for individual businesses—its clients....

These three firms are well-established leaders in their niche markets. That helps cut the risk of operating in highly cyclical industries. Moreover, their recent acquisitions improve their long-term prospects. Still, only one of the three stocks is currently a buy.


QUAKER CHEMICAL CORP....

TEGNA INC. $11 (New York symbol TGNA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector: Shares o/s: 215.6 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Divd. yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tegna.com) owns 46 TV stations....

SYMANTEC CORP. $28 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 621.5 million; Market cap: $17.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.7; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.symantec.com) sells computer-security technology, including antivirus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers.


Symantec has formed a partnership with the security division of NTT Group of Japan (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world.


The venture will pair NTT Security’s threat detection and advanced analytics capabilities with Symantec’s Cloud-Delivered Web Security Services....

These three traditional brick-and-mortar retailers reported strong sales and earnings growth during the important holiday shopping season. However, they remain vulnerable as more consumers shop online. A slowdown in earnings could also force them to cut their dividends.


MACY’S INC....

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $14 (New York symbol GE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 8.7 billion; Market cap: $121.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ge.com) is a leading maker of industrial machinery, including jet engines, power plant equipment and locomotives....

Alphabet’s shares have declined 4% since the start of 2018. That’s partly due to fears the recent Facebook data scandal will prompt governments to bring in new regulations on how Internet companies gather and use customer information. That could hurt the ability of the company’s Google division to sell targeted ads.


However, Google’s targeted-ad features restrict themselves to tracking a user’s search history, rather than the user’s personal data....

TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $27 (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares o/s: 77.0 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) is a leading printer of advertising flyers, magazines, books and newspapers.


In the past few years, the company has cut its reliance on cyclical advertising revenue with acquisitions of firms that produce plastic packaging for food makers....