Wildfires are a small setback for CP

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $90 is your #1 Conservative stock for 2021. The company (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 666.6 million; Market cap: $60.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 7.9; Dividend yield: 0.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cpr.ca) transports freight over a 23,700-kilometre rail network between Montreal and Vancouver, and to its hubs in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. Due to wildfires in British Columbia, federal transport regulators have ordered CP to reduce train speeds in the province until October 31, 2021. It must also step up its fire prevention measures, including removing combustible materials from train tracks. These restrictions should have little impact of CP’s earnings. In fact, its earnings per share will probably rise 15% in 2021 to $4.06 a share (all per-share amounts adjusted for a 5-for-1 stock split in May 2021). The stock trades at 22.2 times that forecast. That’s a reasonable multiple as the company stands to gain from the re-opening of…