price to sales ratio

CAE INC. $15 (Toronto symbol CAE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 269.9 million; Market cap: $4.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cae.com) is a leading maker of flight simulators and operator of pilot-training schools in over 30 countries. The company recently won several contracts for flight simulators and related equipment from military clients in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. In all, these deals are worth $175 million, or 7% of the company’s $2.4 billion of annual revenue. CAE’s military businesses supply 35% of its sales. That cuts its reliance on cyclical commercial airlines....

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. (Toronto symbols CTC $197 and CTC.A $135; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 73.5 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) owns 498 Canadian Tire stores. They sell automotive, household and sporting goods. Franchisees run most of these outlets. Other operations include 296 gas stations and 91 PartSource auto parts stores. New markets have paid off Canadian Tire has acquired two big specialty retailers in the past few years: Mark’s sells casual and work clothing through 380 stores; and the Forzani Group sells sporting goods and athletic wear through 433 stores, including Sport Chek and Sports Experts....

TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $55 (Toronto symbol TD; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $104.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.td.com) is the first Canadian bank to use Visa’s new tokenization technology in its mobile banking app. This system uses encrypted “tokens” instead of credit card numbers and other account information. This helps protect clients’ sensitive information from online intruders. It also speeds up mobile payments and other transactions. Better security should encourage more of TD’s customers to do their banking online. That would cut its costs, as electronic transactions are cheaper to process than those in physical branches....

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. (Toronto symbols CTC $197 and CTC.A $135; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 73.5 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) owns 498 Canadian Tire stores. They sell automotive, household and sporting goods. Franchisees run most of these outlets. Other operations include 296 gas stations and 91 PartSource auto parts stores. New markets have paid off Canadian Tire has acquired two big specialty retailers in the past few years: Mark’s sells casual and work clothing through 380 stores; and the Forzani Group sells sporting goods and athletic wear through 433 stores, including Sport Chek and Sports Experts....

EBAY INC. $24 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $28.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) operates online auction websites in over 30 countries....

PAYPAL HOLDINGS INC. $41 (Nasdaq symbol PYPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $49.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. paypal.com) processes online transactions, including purchases made through eBay’s auction websites. In the past few years, it has expanded into retail stores and mobile payments. On July 20, 2015, eBay investors received one Pay- Pal share for each eBay share they held. They only become liable for capital gains taxes when they sell their new shares. Operating as a separate firm allows PayPal to pursue alliances with more retailers and cut its reliance on eBay. For example, it recently expanded its deal with Chinese online retailer Alibaba to include business-to- business transactions....

ALPHABET INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $741 [class C: non-voting] and GOOGL $760 [class A: one vote per share]; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 688.3 million; Market cap: $517.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.8; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.abc.xyz) is the new holding company for Google’s Internet search business and its smaller, riskier operations....

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $40 (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 327.8 million; Market cap: $13.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agilent.com) makes testing equipment for medical research labs. In November 2015, the company paid $242 million for Seahorse Bioscience. This firm makes equipment that lab researchers use to measure cellular response to new drugs. That helps pharmaceutical firms develop new treatments for cancer and infectious diseases. The company also enhanced its product line by purchasing Cartagenia, a Belgian firm that makes software for Agilent’s medical-testing equipment. It paid $60 million euros for this business....

KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $28 (New York symbol KEYS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 171.3 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.keysight.com) makes software for testing wireless equipment. Its clients include makers of computer chips (44% of total revenue) and communications gear (33%), as well as aerospace and defence firms (23%). Agilent (see page 33) spun off Keysight as a separate firm on November 1, 2014; shareholders received one Keysight share for every two shares they held. In August 2015, Keysight paid $588 million for U.K.-based Anite. This firm makes wireless equipment testing software. That should improve the performance of Keysight’s testing equipment....

MTS SYSTEMS CORP. $59 (Nasdaq symbol MTSC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 14.8 million; Market cap: $873.2 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mts.com) makes equipment and software that manufacturers use to test the behaviour of materials, machines and structures. This helps its clients reduce errors and costs. The company also makes sensors for industrial equipment. MTS’s strong reputation continues to help it win new orders: in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended January 2, 2016, new orders totaled $168.2 million. That’s up 24.3% from $135.3 million a year earlier. However, MTS’s sales declined 1.5%, to $140.5 million from $142.6 million a year earlier. If you exclude currency rates, sales increased 2.8%....