This printing firm is a top payer

Article Excerpt

Transcontinental has gained 21% since the start of 2017. That’s mainly due to the company’s plan to focus on its more-profitable printing and packaging businesses. The shift also gives the company extra room to increase its dividend. TRANSCONTINENTAL INC. $26 (Toronto symbol TCL.A; Cyclical- Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 77.4 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; Dividend yield: 3.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.tctranscontinental.com) began operating in 1978 and is now Canada’s leading printer of flyers, magazines, newspapers and books. In the past few years, the company has cut its reliance on cyclical advertising revenue with acquisitions of companies that make plastic packaging for food makers. Those include its $146.1 million purchase of U.S.-based Capri Packaging, a maker of plastic bags and pouches for dairy products. The company also paid $115.2 million for Brooklyn, New York-based Ultra Flex Packaging. It makes flexible plastic packages for candy, coffee and other foods. At the same time, Transcontinental continues to shrink its newspaper publishing business…