Leon’s sales back to 2019 levels

Article Excerpt

LEON’S FURNITURE LTD. $17 is a buy for aggressive investors. The retailer (Toronto symbol LNF; High-Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 67.0 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; Dividend yield: 3.8%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Average; www.leons.ca) operates 304 stores that sell furniture and home appliances, mainly under the Leon’s, The Brick, The Brick Mattress Store, The Brick Outlet and Appliance Canada banners. To conserve cash during the pandemic, Leon’s cut your quarterly dividend by 25.0% in July 2020, to $0.12 a share from $0.16. However, as its stores re-opened, Leon’s raised the quarterly dividend to $0.14 a share in October 2020. It then increased that quarterly payment by 14.3% to $0.16 in January 2021. The current rate of $0.64 yields a solid 3.8%. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Leon’s sales fell 1.3%, to $661.2 million from $669.8 million a year earlier. Same-store sales declined 1.0%. However, sales are up 6.4% compared to the pre-pandemic quarter ended December 31, 2019. Due to higher shipping and interest…