recent acquisitions

What does a diversified portfolio look like? A well-diversified portfolio balances risk by spreading investment holdings out by industry sector and other factors

Pharmaceutical stocks are often riskier than most investors realize. Drug companies must spend large sums to develop new medications and therapies, many of which will fail. Those that do succeed, will eventually lose their patent protection and face strong competition from generic drug producers.

Drugmakers also face political risk....

These two financial services firms continue to benefit from plans to focus on their core businesses. While we like both, we prefer IGM for your new buying due to its modestly lower p/e and higher dividend yield.


GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $50 is a hold. The insurance company (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 930.7 million; Market cap: $46.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 4.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest life insurer, after Manulife Financial....

Armstrong World Industries is positioned for continued growth as it reports strong sales and profits despite a challenging operating environment.

Both Great-West and IGM recently exchanged some assets as part of a plan to better concentrate on their main businesses. We like both but still see IGM as the better pick.


GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $54 is a hold. The company (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 932.1 million; Market cap: $50.3 billion; Dividend yield: 4.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest life insurer after Manulife Financial....

GREAT-WEST LIFECO, $53.80, is still a hold. The company (Toronto symbol GWO; shares o/s: 931.9 million; Market cap: $50.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 4.5%; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest life insurer, after Manulife Financial....

These two financial services providers continue to benefit from their recent plans to better focus on their core businesses. We still like both of these high-quality stocks, but prefer IGM for your new buying.


GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $52 is a hold. The insurer (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; shares outstanding: 932.1 million; Market cap: $48.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.greatwestlifeco.com) is Canada’s second-largest life insurer, after Manulife Financial....

DOW INC., $38.58, symbol DOW on New York, is one of the world’s largest makers of plastics and specialty chemicals. It mainly sells to customers in the consumer goods, construction, energy, personal care, packaging, textiles, automotive and telecommunications industries.

The company manufactures its products at 98 factories in 31 countries.

On April 1, 2019, DuPont (symbol DD on New York) spun off Dow....

To help unlock some of its hidden value, trucking firm XPO recently spun off two of its smaller businesses—GXO Logistics and RXO.


Investors tend to prefer “pure-play” firms that are easier to analyze and evaluate. That’s why XPO’s shares are up 84% since the first spinoff....

Carrier is a great example of how spinoffs unlock value by providing investors with an easier-to-understand firm focused on one business. Since it became an independent firm in 2020, Carrier, with its core focus on heating and cooling systems has seen its stock soar over 500%....