Grocers Follow Canadian Tire’s Example

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN TIRE CORP., LTD. $64 (Toronto symbol CTR.NV; SI Rating: Above average) is a good example of a Canadian retailer that has successfully dealt with the Wal-Mart threat. It closed older stores, and upgraded its checkout and inventory systems. Thanks to its new stores, which feature wider aisles, better signage and faster checkouts, Canadian Tire earned $1.30 a share before unusual items in the fourth quarter of 2005, up 17.6% from $1.10 a year earlier. It also raised its quarterly dividend 13.8%, from $0.145 a share to $0.165 a share. The new annual rate of $0.66 yields 1.0%. The company also plans to change its stock trading symbol, from CTR.NV to CTC.A, on May 8, 2006. Canadian Tire is a buy. buy…