Look to CP for long-term gains

Article Excerpt

CP’s earnings have suffered lately, mainly due to bad weather. Avalanches during the winter disrupted its operations in western Canada, and spring floods washed out some of its lines in the Canadian Prairies and the U.S. Midwest. However, these are short-term setbacks. As well, the company is now working on a number of improvements that should make it more efficient, and push up its profits. CP’s upgrades mainly include improving its tracks and expanding its loading facilities so they can handle longer trains. That will extend the lives of CP’s locomotives, because they will have to make fewer stops and starts. These improvements will also help the company profit as shipping volumes rise. CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $55 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 169.4 million; Market cap: $9.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cpr.ca) transports freight between Montreal and Vancouver. It also connects with hubs in the U.S. Midwest and…