stock pickers
DEVON ENERGY CORP., $79.21, symbol DVN on New York, has agreed to sell some of its properties to Linn Energy LLC (Nasdaq symbol LINE) for $2.3 billion. The sale includes Devon’s holdings in the Rockies, the onshore Gulf Coast and the Mid-Continent region (which includes Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas). The sale will let Devon focus on what it sees as low-risk/high-reward properties, especially the oil-producing assets it bought in Texas’s Eagle Ford shale formation for $6 billion last year....
Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a beginning or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you advice on specific investment topics. 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: “Selling half of hot stocks that surge helps you guard your profits. But apply this rule only to more aggressive stocks, and not to the well-established stocks that may surprise you by going a lot higher in the long run.” As you probably know, our Successful Investor business model has two parts. We publish investment advice through The Successful Investor Inc., and we manage investor portfolios through Successful Investor Wealth Management Inc. (These two companies are affiliated by common ownership; I own both but set them up as separate companies for regulatory purposes.)...
FIRSTSERVICE CORP. (Toronto symbol FSV; www.firstservice.com) serves the following areas of the real estate market: commercial real estate, residential property management and property improvement. The company has more than 24,000 employees worldwide. In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, FirstService’s revenue rose 15.1%, to $548.4 million from $476.4 million a year earlier (all figures except share prices in U.S. dollars). Excluding one-time items, earnings per share were $0.09, compared to a loss of $0.20. The first quarter is typically a slower time for the company. Revenue rose at all three of FirstService’s divisions: Colliers International (commercial real estate), up 28%; FirstService Residential (residential property management), up 7%; and FirstService Brands (property services), up 11%. FirstService Brands operates Paul Davis Restoration, California Closets and CertaPro Painters....
DOREL INDUSTRIES, $38.69, symbol DII.B on Toronto, has agreed to buy Hong Kong-based Lerado Group, a maker of baby strollers and infant car seats, for $120 million. Lerado also makes baby beds, high chairs and baby bouncers. The acquisition includes four facilities—a research centre in Taiwan and three manufacturing plants in China. These will be Dorel’s first company-owned factories in Asia, which reduces its reliance on third-party suppliers in the region; Dorel will now be able to make its own products to sell in China and export around the world. Right now, the company’s juvenile division gets only a small part of its sales from China. But China’s new infant-seat laws and growing middle class make it a great place for Dorel to expand....
CHEMTRADE LOGISTICS INCOME FUND (Toronto symbol CHE.UN; www.chemtradelogistics.com) is one of North America’s largest providers of removal services for resource firms, such as oil refineries and base-metal processors. These companies’ activities create sulphur, acid and other by-products that Chemtrade converts into useful chemicals, like sulphuric acid. The trust also offers a range of environmental services through its Marsulex subsidiary, such as improving air quality and handling and treating industrial waste. Chemtrade’s revenue rose 30.4% in the three months ended March 31, 2014, to $273.9 million from $210.0 million a year earlier....
ADOBE SYSTEMS INC., $72.61, Nasdaq symbol ADBE, rose 9% this week after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. In its fiscal 2014 second quarter, which ended May 30, 2014, Adobe earned $186.3 million, up 1.9% from $182.9 million a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 2.8%, to $0.37 from $0.36. That beat the consensus forecast of $0.30. Revenue gained 5.7%, to $1.07 billion from $1.01 billion. That also beat the consensus forecast of $1.03 billion....
RUBY TUESDAY INC., $7.48, symbol RT on New York, posted a smaller loss in the latest quarter as it continues to close unprofitable restaurants. It’s also moving its remaining locations back to their roots, serving reasonably priced food in a bar-and-grill atmosphere. However, Ruby Tuesday continues to face weak consumer spending, along with most U.S. casual dining chains. Competition also remains intense. The company’s shares have jumped 36% since it released its latest quarterly results. We think now would be a good to time sell the stock....
ENBRIDGE INC., $51.09, Toronto symbol ENB, has won approval from Ottawa for its Northern Gateway pipeline. Northern Gateway will pump crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Kitimat, B.C. From there, tankers would ship the oil to customers in Asia. It will cost $7.9 billion to build this project. That’s equal to 19% of Enbridge’s $42.7-billion market cap (or the value of all its outstanding shares). However, that estimate is sure to rise as other oil sands and pipeline projects drive up labour and material costs....
AMAZON.COM INC., $326.27, symbol AMZN on Nasdaq, has launched Prime Music, a music-streaming service that’s now bundled with a $99-a-year Amazon Prime subscription. This is the fourth part of the Amazon Prime service. The other three are unlimited shipping, a Kindle e-book library and Prime Instant Video (streaming movies and TV shows). Amazon’s music service will start off with just over a million songs, with no ads and no limit on how much users can listen. It will also offer playlists curated by music experts Amazon will hire....
IAMGOLD (Toronto symbol IMG; www.iamgold.com) owns 41% of the Sadiola mine and 40% of the Yatela mine, both located in Mali; 90% of its Essakane gold mine in Burkina Faso; 100% of the Doyon mine in Quebec; and 95% of the Rosebel mine in Suriname, South America. In addition, IAMGold has a 1% royalty interest in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories. It also owns the Niobec niobium mine in Quebec. When used as an additive, niobium makes steel stronger, more heat-resistant and easier to weld. In the three months ended March 31, 2014, IAMGold’s revenue fell 8.5%, to $279.3 million from $305.3 million a year earlier. Cash flow per share dropped to $0.17 from $0.31. The declines were mostly due to 21.2% lower gold prices and an 8.5% production decrease....
