public offering

Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for advice on specific stocks, as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week we offer you a report on one of the stocks profiled in these Q&A sessions. We give you Pat’s buy-hold-sell recommendation as well as his analysis of the stock. This is part of our new approach offering you regular and specific buy, hold and sell advice in our daily posts. Every week you’ll get “A Stock to Sell” on Monday, “Best Canadian Stocks” on Tuesday, and “Our Top U.S. Stocks” on Thursday. This week an Inner Circle member asked us about one of the top tech stocks competing for market share in online search and content. Two years ago, Yahoo hired a new president and CEO away from rival Google to help the company make up lost ground against Google and Facebook. Pat examines the measures Marissa Mayer has taken to improve Yahoo’s competitive position. He also discusses Yahoo’s big stake in Alibaba, the Chinese “Amazon.com”, and the impact that company’s upcoming IPO will have on Yahoo’s prospects. Q: I would like your evaluation on the prospects for Yahoo. Thank you....

Yahoo! Inc., $35.90, symbol YHOO on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $36.1 billion; www.yahoo.com), offered one of the Internet’s first search engines when it launched in 1994 and has since become one of the most popular online destinations for content. Its sites also have a range of other features, including shopping and email. In July 2012, Yahoo appointed Marissa Mayer as president and CEO. Mayer joined Google in 1999 and helped develop many of that company’s most popular services. She was a vice-president at Google before she left. Under Mayer, Yahoo is simplifying the design of its websites, which should draw more users and help the company compete with Google and Facebook. In addition, Yahoo is shutting down many of its less-popular services to focus on its main sites. The company plans to cut the number of websites it operates from over 50 to around 10....

GE’s shares dropped from $42 in 2007 to under $6 in 2009, as the financial crisis caused big losses at its banking division. In response, the company decided to shrink this business’s assets to half of what they were before the recession. It expects to complete these cuts by the end of 2014. Meanwhile, GE is expanding its industrial operations, mainly through acquisitions. That’s generally riskier than internal growth, but these businesses have unique technologies that offer competitive advantages. GE has also entered into a new alliance with France’s Alstom that will help it expand in developing nations. GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $26 (New York symbol GE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 10.0 billion; Market cap: $260.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ge.com) is one of the world’s largest manufacturers. It makes machinery for power generation and distribution, such as turbines, as well as other products, like jet engines, medical equipment, appliances, lighting and locomotives....

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. $26 (New York symbol GE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 10.0 billion; Market cap: $260.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ge.com) is one of the world’s largest manufacturers. It makes machinery for power generation and distribution, such as turbines, as well as other products, like jet engines, medical equipment, appliances, lighting and locomotives.

The company also operates GE Capital, which mainly provides loans to GE’s clients. The company scaled back GE Capital after the division suffered big losses in the 2008/09 financial crisis. It now accounts for 30% of GE’s revenue and 37% of its earnings.

As part of these reductions, GE Capital will soon unload its North American consumer lending business as a separate firm called Synchrony Financial (New York symbol SYF). GE will sell 20% of Synchrony’s shares through an initial public offering. After that, the company will give its shareholders the chance to swap their GE stock for Synchrony shares.

...

ENCANA CORP. $25.39 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 740.9 million; Market cap: $19.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.2%; www.encana.com) has released more details regarding its plan to spin off its Clearwater oil and gas properties in southern Alberta.

The new company, called PrairieSky Royalty, will hold the oil and gas rights to 5.2 million acres. PrairieSky will not drill wells or explore for new reserves. Instead, it will collect royalties from other producers. That should generate steady cash flows for monthly dividends.

Encana plans to complete an initial public offering for PrairieSky in the next two to three months—although it will hang on to a majority stake. In the future, it may hand out that stake as a special dividend to its shareholders.

...

DIRTT Environmental Solutions Ltd., $3.30, symbol DRT on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 68.9 million; Market cap: $230.2 million; www.dirtt.net), designs and builds customized office interiors. DIRTT stands for “doing it right this time.” The company believes its ICE 3-D software lets it deliver pre-made, customizable interiors faster and more efficiently than traditional construction methods. DIRTT first sold shares to the public at $3 each and began trading on the Toronto exchange in November 2013. In the three months ended December 31, 2013, the company’s revenue fell 1.3%, to $34.2 million from $34.7 million a year earlier. DIRTT lost $10.2 million, or $0.25 a share, compared to a loss of $419,000, or $0.01. The latest results included $836,000 of costs related to its initial public offering, as well as $4.6 million in debt-settlement expenses....

ENCANA CORP. $25.39 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 740.9 million; Market cap: $19.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.2%; www.encana.com) has released more details regarding its plan to spin off its Clearwater oil and gas properties in southern Alberta.

The new company, called PrairieSky Royalty, will hold the oil and gas rights to 5.2 million acres....

PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, April 25, 2014. POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN, $38.45, Toronto symbol POT, rose 5% this week on speculation that BHP Billiton (New York symbol BHP) may launch a second takeover offer for the company. (BHP is a recommendation of Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that focuses on U.S. stocks.) In 2010, BHP offered to buy Potash Corp. for $43.33 U.S. a share (adjusted for a 3-for-1 stock split in February 2011). However, Ottawa ultimately blocked the takeover, as it did not provide a “net benefit” to Canada under the Investment Canada Act....

FuelCell Energy, $1.69, symbol FCEL on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 227.4 million; Market cap: $402.2 million; www.fuelcellenergy.com), develops and produces fuel cells for power generation. A fuel cell is a device that uses hydrogen as a fuel, combined with oxygen from air, to produce electricity without combustion or harmful emissions. The hydrogen comes from a fossil fuel, such as natural gas or propane. It can also be produced by passing an electric current through water. Hydrogen can be stored or transported by pipeline, but it’s highly explosive. Fuel cells have no moving parts, make little noise, and have only heat and water as by-products when fuelled by pure hydrogen. They were first used in the U.S. space program, where they powered electronics in the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft. Later, they provided electricity and water for the space shuttles....

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. (Toronto symbol SNC; www.snclavalin.com) is a leading Canadian engineering and construction company that specializes in large-scale public works projects, such as roads, bridges, transit systems and water treatment plants. SNC has offices in over 40 countries....