ATCO offers a cheap way to buy CU

Article Excerpt

ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $40 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $40; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 115.1 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.atco.com) holds 53.2% of Canadian Utilities and 75.5% of ATCO Structures & Logistics, which makes temporary buildings for construction, mining and energy-exploration firms. Canadian Utilities owns the other 24.5%. In the three months ended June 30, 2015, ATCO earned $8 million, or $0.06 a share, down 87.9% from $66 million, or $0.57. Revenue declined 15.0%, to $947 million from $1.1 billion. Excluding unusual items, earnings were flat at $57 million. Based on current prices, you can buy an ATCO share for $40 and get roughly $45 worth of Canadian Utilities. You might say this means you get the structures business, which provides around 20% of ATCO’s earnings, for free. The class I (X) non-voting shares are more liquid than the class II (Y)…