price to sales ratio

BELL ALIANT INC. $27 (Toronto symbol BA, Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 229.1 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 7.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bellaliant.ca) sells phone and Internet services to 2.4 million customers in Atlantic Canada and rural Ontario and Quebec.

Like BCE, the company continues to replace copper wires with fibre optic cable....

Stocks in the Resource and Manufacturing & Industry sectors tend to be more volatile than those in the Finance, Utilities and Consumer sectors. That’s because demand for their products moves up and down with the economy.

To cut your risk in the Manufacturing sector, it’s best to stick with well-established firms like the three we analyze below.

All three are leaders in their niche markets, which helps them stay profitable during downturns and thrive when the economy recovers....

ANDREW PELLER LTD. $14 (Toronto symbol ADW.A; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 14.3 million; Market cap: $200.2 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.andrewpeller.com) is Canada’s second-largest producer of wines, after Vincor International....

BLACKBERRY LTD. $6.29 (Toronto symbol BB; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 524.6 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.blackberry.com) has sold $1 billion U.S....

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $58 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 836.0 million; Market cap: $48.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.6; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway....

Fertilizer prices remain volatile, but these two producers have bright long-term outlooks. That’s because the growing population is increasing food demand. Without fertilizer, the world would need 50% more farmland to meet this need.

We prefer Agrium over Potash Corp., as its retail stores cut its exposure to bulk fertilizer prices.

POTASH CORP....

BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.52 and BBD.B $4.50; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $8.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) has won an order for five of its new CSeries passenger jets from Iraqi Airways....

SAPUTO INC. $47 (Toronto symbol SAP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 194.3 million; Market cap: $9.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.saputo.com) recently agreed to a friendly takeover of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory, one of Australia’s largest producers of milk, cheese, butter and other dairy products....

PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $6.56 (Toronto symbol PGF; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 520.5 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 7.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.pengrowth.com) recently sold $1 billion of less important properties to raise funds for its $590-million Lindbergh oil sands project in Alberta....

CAE INC. $13 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 261.5 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) is the world’s leading maker of flight simulators for commercial airlines, with 70% of the market....