price to sales ratio

New technology has increased oil production from North American shale rock formations. Even so, oil prices have held up due to the improving global economy and lower output from conventional wells.

However, the outlook for oil remains uncertain. The lifting of economic sanctions against Iran would increase world oil supplies and hurt prices....

MTS SYSTEMS CORP. $68 (Nasdaq symbol MTSC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 15.4 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mts.com) makes equipment and software that manufacturers use to test the behaviour of materials, machines and structures....

BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC. $67 (New York symbol BAX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 542.0 million; Market cap: $36.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.baxter.com) continues to expand overseas, which helps cut its exposure to the 2.3% excise tax it must pay on sales of medical devices as part of the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare)....

AT&T and Verizon keep making their wireless networks faster, which is fuelling demand for new services, like mobile video. Upgrades to their regular phone networks are also boosting sales of high-speed Internet access. Thanks to these strengths, both companies have plenty of room to raise their dividends.

AT&T INC....

WINDSTREAM HOLDINGS INC. $8.19 (Nasdaq symbol WIN; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 596.1 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 12.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.windstream.com) gets 70% of its revenue from two fast-growing fields: high-speed Internet and business telecommunications.

The company also has 3.3 million regular phone users, mainly in rural parts of the U.S., and demand for this service is falling....

GANNETT CO. INC. $27 (New York symbol GCI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector: Shares outstanding: 227.9 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.gannett.com) plans to include USAToday, its flagship newspaper, in 35 of its local daily papers’ print and electronic editions....

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $59 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 501.8 million; Market cap: $29.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 7.0; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) earned $164.6 million, or $0.32 a share, in its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter, which ended November 29, 2013....

AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $86 (New York symbol AXP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $94.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www. americanexpress.com) gets most of its revenue from the fees it charges merchants who accept its charge cards (which have no pre-set spending limit and must be paid in full each month) and credit cards (which can carry a balance).

Unlike other credit card companies, such as Visa and MasterCard, Amex is also a lender....

AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $86 (New York symbol AXP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $94.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www. americanexpress.com) gets most of its revenue from the fees it charges merchants who accept its charge cards (which have no pre-set spending limit and must be paid in full each month) and credit cards (which can carry a balance).

Unlike other credit card companies, such as Visa and MasterCard, Amex is also a lender. That lets it collect interest payments on its cardholders’outstanding balances.


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ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $59 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 501.8 million; Market cap: $29.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 7.0; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) earned $164.6 million, or $0.32 a share, in its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter, which ended November 29, 2013. That’s down 46.5% from $307.9 million, or $0.61 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 9.7%, to $1.04 billion from $1.15 billion.

Last year, the company starting selling its Creative Cloud package of photo-editing and desktop-publishing programs as a subscription instead of a one-time purchase. Adobe added 402,000 Creative Cloud subscribers during the quarter, to bring its total to 1.44 million. That beat its goal of 1.25 million users.

The stock is up 57% in the past year and now trades at 53.6 times the $1.10 a share that Adobe will likely earn in fiscal 2014. That’s a high p/e ratio for a company that mainly serves customers in cyclical businesses like publishing. However, its switch to sale-by-subscription could generate a lot of long-term growth.
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