stock pickers
WESTJET AIRLINES LTD., $21.70, symbol WJA on Toronto, reports that its load factor fell slightly in May 2013, to 78.5% from 79.2% a year earlier. Load factor is the percentage of available seats that are occupied by paying passengers. However, the decline was only slight, even though the company increased its capacity by 9.1% to meet higher demand. Revenue passenger miles (the total number of paying passengers on each plane multiplied by the distance travelled in miles) rose 8.2% in the latest quarter. Demand for the company’s flights remains high, and it has entered into new partnerships with other airlines; these were the main reasons for the increased number of passengers....
TEMPUR-PEDIC INTERNATIONAL INC., $42.28, symbol TPX on New York, is changing its name to Tempur Sealy International. Its stock will continue to trade under the TPX symbol. Tempur-Pedic completed its $1.3-billion purchase of rival Sealy Corp. in March 2013. This was a major acquisition for Tempur-Pedic, but it lets the company diversify into the market for traditional spring-coil beds. That should help it offset rising competition in its current business. The company makes and distributes Swedish mattresses and neck pillows made from its proprietary Tempur material, which conforms to the body to provide support and help alleviate pressure points. Simmons Bedding Co. and Serta Inc. have both successfully launched memory-foam mattresses that directly compete with Tempur-Pedic’s products....
CALIAN TECHNOLOGIES $20.35 (Toronto symbol CTY; www.calian.com) operates in two areas: the business and technology services division (which supplies 70% of Calian’s revenue) provides engineers, health care workers and other skilled professionals to clients on a contract basis. The systems engineering division (30% of revenue) sells hardware and software for testing, operating and managing satellite and other communication systems....
BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY INC., $8.48, symbol BIR on Toronto, develops, produces and explores for oil and natural gas, mainly in the Peace River Arch area near the Alberta/B.C. border. In the three months ended March 31, 2013, the company produced an average of 26,108 barrels of oil equivalent a day (82% gas and 18% oil). That was up 24.0% from 21,061 barrels a year earlier. The production increase pushed up Birchcliff’s cash flow per share by 33.3%, to $0.28 from $0.21. Last year, Birchcliff completed Phase III of its gas plant expansion in Pouce Coupe, Alberta. This project doubled the facility’s capacity and is helping the company bring the additional gas it is producing to market. That accounted for a lot of the production increase....
Please note: The next issue of Stock Pickers Digest will be sent out on Friday, May 24, 2013. AIMIA INC., $14.98, symbol AIM on Toronto, dropped over 6% this week, even though it reported higher revenue and raised its dividend. The company owns and operates Aeroplan, Canada’s largest loyalty program; Nectar, the U.K.’s biggest loyalty program; and Nectar Italia. In addition, Aimia has interests in Air Miles Middle East and Club Premier, the leading loyalty program in Mexico....
Pat McKeough responds to many requests for specific advice on stock tips and other questions on investment and the economy from the members of his Inner Circle. 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 one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle. This week, we had a request from an Inner Circle member about Accord Financial, a stock that did well for us a couple of years ago. We recommended selling Accord and taking profits in February 2011. Pat looks at the company’s prospects today. ...
Accord Financial, $8.11, symbol ACD on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 8.2 million; Market cap: $67.8 million; www.accordfinancial.com), gets most of its revenue from the factoring business in Canada and the U.S. Factoring is the purchase of accounts receivable at a discount. Accord profits by collecting on these receivables, generally at face value. Besides factoring, Accord provides loans using a client’s assets as collateral. These assets include accounts receivable, inventory and equipment. It also offers purchase order financing (or lending based on valid agreements to purchase goods and services). Accord was a pick of our Stock Pickers Digest newsletter until we recommended selling the stock at $7.55 in our February 2011 issue....
Please note: The next Stock Pickers Digest newsletter issue will be sent out on Friday, May 24, 2013. WESTJET AIRLINES LTD., $21.85, symbol WJA on Toronto, fell almost 13% this week, even though it reported record earnings in the latest quarter. WestJet reports that its earnings jumped 33.3% in the three months ended March 31, 2013, to $91.1 million from $68.3 million a year earlier. That marks the company’s 32nd consecutive quarter of profitability. Earnings per share rose 38.8%, to $0.68 from $0.49, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue rose 8.6%, to $967.2 million from $891.0 million a year earlier....
Pat McKeough responds to many requests for specific advice on stock market investing and other questions on investment and the economy from the members of his Inner Circle. 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 one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle. This week, an Inner Circle member asked about the prospects for one of Canada’s leading natural gas processors and distributors. AltaGas profits from a number of fixed long-term contracts, but it is also growing by acquisition and diversifying into new sources of energy. Pat looks at the company’s ability to manage this added risk going forward....
