Cut your cyclical risk with these four

Article Excerpt

sensitive to swings in the economy than, say, utilities. The best manufacturing stocks (including the four we analyze below) are well-established market leaders that can take advantage of downturns to expand. Their unique products and services are also helping them hang on to customers. SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $50 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 150.8 million; Market cap: $7.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) is a leading Canadian engineering and construction company. It specializes in large-scale public-works projects, such as roads, bridges, transit systems and water-treatment plants. SNC recently bought the 23.08% of AltaLink L.P. that it did not already own. The company now owns 100% of AltaLink, which provides electricity to 85% of Alberta’s population through 12,000 kilometres of power lines and 270 substations. AltaLink’s long-term outlook is bright, partly because new power lines will have to be built to power Alberta’s expanding oil sands projects. In addition, AltaLink’s expertise…