A Yield to Caution

Article Excerpt

CINEPLEX INC. $30 (Toronto symbol CGX; Shares outstanding: 63.3 million; Market cap: $1.9 billion; Dividend yield: 5.8%; www.cineplex.com) is Canada’s biggest cinema operator and the fourth largest in North America. The company raised its monthly dividend by 3.6% in May 2018, to $0.145 a share from $0.14. The stock now yields a high 5.8%. That increase follows a 33.7% drop in earnings for the first quarter compared to a year earlier. The profit decline came despite the huge box-office success of Marvel’s Black Panther. That film contributed a whopping 22% of Cineplex’s box office revenue in the quarter. Still, overall attendance fell 9.3%. Theatre operators are highly dependent on the popularity of the current crop of Hollywood productions. But even with a big blockbuster, the company’s box-office revenue and attendance can still fall, along with the highly profitable sale of popcorn and drinks at its concession stands. In the longer term, cinemas also face rising competition as more consumers shift to watching movies at home. That trend is…