stock pickers
METRO INC. $92 (Toronto symbol MRU; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 84.5 million; Market cap: $7.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.metro.ca) operates 600 grocery stores and 250 drugstores in Quebec and Ontario.
In its 2014 fiscal year, which ended September 27, 2014, Metro’s earnings rose slightly, to $460.9 million from $460.7 million in fiscal 2013. The company spent $459.7 million on share buybacks in the past year, which is why its earnings per share gained 8.5%, to $5.13 from $4.73.
Overall sales rose 1.7%, to $11.6 billion from $11.4 billion, while same-store sales gained 1.1%. Higher food prices were the main reason for these gains. As well, the company recently paid $101.6 million for 75% of privately held bakery Première Moisson, which has 23 stores and three production facilities in Quebec.
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In its 2014 fiscal year, which ended September 27, 2014, Metro’s earnings rose slightly, to $460.9 million from $460.7 million in fiscal 2013. The company spent $459.7 million on share buybacks in the past year, which is why its earnings per share gained 8.5%, to $5.13 from $4.73.
Overall sales rose 1.7%, to $11.6 billion from $11.4 billion, while same-store sales gained 1.1%. Higher food prices were the main reason for these gains. As well, the company recently paid $101.6 million for 75% of privately held bakery Première Moisson, which has 23 stores and three production facilities in Quebec.
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Every Monday we feature “A Stock to Sell” as our daily post. With every stock or investment we recommend as a sell, we give you a full explanation of why we advise against investing in it at this time.
A recent question on “robotics stocks for aggressive investing” from a member of our Inner Circle led to this examination of three different companies involved in this growing field. One is a sell, one is a hold and one is a buy.
ReWalk Robotics (symbol RWLK on Nasdaq; www.rewalk.com) is an Israeli company that makes robotic exoskeletons for helping people with spinal cord injuries walk again. The FDA cleared this technology for use in the U.S. in June 2014. It has been marketed in Europe since 2012.
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A recent question on “robotics stocks for aggressive investing” from a member of our Inner Circle led to this examination of three different companies involved in this growing field. One is a sell, one is a hold and one is a buy.
ReWalk Robotics (symbol RWLK on Nasdaq; www.rewalk.com) is an Israeli company that makes robotic exoskeletons for helping people with spinal cord injuries walk again. The FDA cleared this technology for use in the U.S. in June 2014. It has been marketed in Europe since 2012.
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PLEASE NOTE: Next week, Stock Pickers Digest will reveal its #1 pick for 2015. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to profit. CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL, $711.11, symbol CMG on New York, offers higher-quality food and better decor and service than many fast-food chains, and charges slightly higher prices. Under its Food with Integrity initiative, it uses naturally raised meat wherever possible. All of Chipotle’s naturally raised meat comes from animals that are raised in a humane way, never given antibiotics or hormones and fed a pure vegetarian diet....
Canada’s supermarkets are doing a good job of competing with U.S. retail giants like Wal-Mart, which are aggressively expanding in the grocery market. In addition to improving their efficiency, the Canadian firms are buying other chains, like drugstores and specialty bakeries, that nicely complement their main businesses. LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $59 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 412.8 million; Market cap: $24.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) is Canada’s largest food retailer, with about 1,050 stores. The company is benefiting from sales of other products beyond food. For example, in 2006 it launched its popular Joe Fresh line of clothing, shoes and accessories....
We haven’t found any infrastructure stocks we want to recommend as buys, but here’s a look at one hold recommendation of Stock Pickers Digest, as well as two prominent U.S. companies in the industry: Stantec, $29.79, symbol STN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 93.8 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; www.stantec.com), a recommendation of Stock Pickers Digest, benefits from infrastructure investments all over North America. The company offers consulting and project management services for infrastructure and various facilities. Stantec continues to grow by acquisition. At the same time, it cuts its costs by sharing administrative expenses, financing and employee benefits among its divisions and new acquisitions. But continually buying firms adds risk, including the risk of writedowns....
Every Tuesday we bring you “Best Canadian Stocks.” You get our specific recommendations on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You’ll read about stocks making moves you should know about, from coverage in one of our three newsletters featuring Canadian stocks—The Successful Investor, Stock Pickers Digest and Canadian Wealth Advisor.
VERESEN (Toronto symbol VSN; www.vereseninc.com) owns pipelines, power plants and gas-processing facilities across North America.
A major holding is 50% of the Alliance gas line, which runs 3,000 kilometres between Chicago and Fort St. John, B.C.
Veresen also owns the Alberta Ethane Gathering System, 42.7% of the Aux Sable NGL plant, and the Hythe/Steeprock natural gas gathering and processing complex in the Cutbank Ridge region of Alberta and B.C.
In the quarter ended September 30, 2014, Veresen’s cash flow per share rose 4.5%, to $0.23 from $0.22.
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VERESEN (Toronto symbol VSN; www.vereseninc.com) owns pipelines, power plants and gas-processing facilities across North America.
A major holding is 50% of the Alliance gas line, which runs 3,000 kilometres between Chicago and Fort St. John, B.C.
Veresen also owns the Alberta Ethane Gathering System, 42.7% of the Aux Sable NGL plant, and the Hythe/Steeprock natural gas gathering and processing complex in the Cutbank Ridge region of Alberta and B.C.
In the quarter ended September 30, 2014, Veresen’s cash flow per share rose 4.5%, to $0.23 from $0.22.
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ATLANTIC TELE-NETWORK, $64.56, symbol ATNI on Nasdaq, is entering the solar energy market by acquiring 28 solar projects in Massachusetts, California and New Jersey. The company paid $103 million for these assets ($64 million in cash and the assumption of $39 million of debt). Atlantic will now operate these projects, which have a total of 45.7 megawatts of capacity, through its newly created Ahana Renewable subsidiary. Customers include corporations, utilities, schools and municipalities. The projects’ power-purchase agreements range from 10 to 25 years, with a weighted average remaining life of 14.4 years. All of these facilities are generating revenue and have been operating for at least a year....
Every Tuesday we bring you “Best Canadian Stocks.” You get our specific recommendations on the stocks we profile, with a full explanation of how we arrived at our opinion. You’ll read about stocks making moves you should know about, from coverage in one of our three newsletters featuring Canadian stocks—The Successful Investor, Stock Pickers Digest and Canadian Wealth Advisor.
THOMSON REUTERS CORP. (Toronto symbol TRI; www.thomsonreuters.com) is seeing higher demand for its financial information products for the first time since the 2008 economic crisis. Sales at its legal and tax and accounting businesses are also improving.
In the three months ended September 30, 2014, Thomson’s overall revenue rose 1.1%, to $3.11 billion from $3.07 billion a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars).
The financial division’s revenue (54% of the total) fell 0.7%. But banks and other clients are buying more products than they’re cancelling, which should raise this division’s future revenue.
Revenue rose 1.3% at the legal-products division (28%), 11.5% at tax and accounting (10%) and 3.3% at intellectual property and science (8%).
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THOMSON REUTERS CORP. (Toronto symbol TRI; www.thomsonreuters.com) is seeing higher demand for its financial information products for the first time since the 2008 economic crisis. Sales at its legal and tax and accounting businesses are also improving.
In the three months ended September 30, 2014, Thomson’s overall revenue rose 1.1%, to $3.11 billion from $3.07 billion a year earlier (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars).
The financial division’s revenue (54% of the total) fell 0.7%. But banks and other clients are buying more products than they’re cancelling, which should raise this division’s future revenue.
Revenue rose 1.3% at the legal-products division (28%), 11.5% at tax and accounting (10%) and 3.3% at intellectual property and science (8%).
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Every Monday we feature “A Stock to Sell” as our daily post. With every stock or investment we recommend as a sell, we give you a full explanation of why we advise against investing in it at this time.
Cardiff Energy (symbol CRS on Toronto; www.cardiffenergy.com), is a junior oil and gas exploration firm. It first sold shares to the public and began trading in April 2012.
Cardiff holds interests in 15 producing oil wells, one producing gas well and three shut-in oil wells in the Lincoln County area of central Oklahoma. It also has holdings in other parts of the state, including seven producing oil and gas wells in the Garvin County area and interests in the Buzzard Sand oil property in Osage County.
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Cardiff Energy (symbol CRS on Toronto; www.cardiffenergy.com), is a junior oil and gas exploration firm. It first sold shares to the public and began trading in April 2012.
Cardiff holds interests in 15 producing oil wells, one producing gas well and three shut-in oil wells in the Lincoln County area of central Oklahoma. It also has holdings in other parts of the state, including seven producing oil and gas wells in the Garvin County area and interests in the Buzzard Sand oil property in Osage County.
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Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away.
Today’s tip: “To get the maximum reward from rising stocks, it’s essential to pick stocks with clear growth prospects and not simply momentum stocks with uncertain futures.”
By definition, growth stocks are companies that have above-average growth prospects. They are firms whose earnings growth has been above the market average, and is likely to remain above average. It is often the case that they pay small dividends or none at all. Instead, they re-invest their cash flow in the business, to promote their growth.
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Today’s tip: “To get the maximum reward from rising stocks, it’s essential to pick stocks with clear growth prospects and not simply momentum stocks with uncertain futures.”
By definition, growth stocks are companies that have above-average growth prospects. They are firms whose earnings growth has been above the market average, and is likely to remain above average. It is often the case that they pay small dividends or none at all. Instead, they re-invest their cash flow in the business, to promote their growth.
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