CP is the year’s top bargain

Article Excerpt

CP’s shares soared to a high of $90 in July 2007. They have since fallen 60%, to $36. The stock was probably overpriced at $90 and 21 times earnings. But it now trades at 9.1 times this year’s forecast earnings, and it yields 2.8%. This well-established company is a mainstay of the Canadian economy. It’s a rare low-risk treat to be able to buy it at today’s bargain level. CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $36 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 167.7 million; Market cap: $6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; SI Rating: Above Average) ships freight over a 25,000-kilometre rail network between Montreal and Vancouver. In the United States, its subsidiaries connect its Canadian lines to major hubs in the midwest and northeast. Alliances with other railways extend CP’s reach to Mexico. CP made 29% of its 2008 revenues hauling shipping containers loaded with a variety of goods. Grain accounted for 20% of its revenues, followed by…