Still a hold due to cancellation risk

Article Excerpt

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $31 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 151 million; Market cap: $4.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; SI Rating: Average) reported much higher earnings in 2008: $2.05 a share (or a total of $312.5 million), compared to $0.45 a share (or $69.1 million) in 2007. The gain was mostly because of a $267.3-million, pre-tax operating loss at the engineering firm’s electrical-power division that depressed SNC’s 2007 earnings. The loss was caused by delays in building a new power plant in Brampton, Ontario. SNC’s revenue rose 5.6%, to $7.1 billion from $6.7 billion. Its order backlog stands at $9.6 billion, down 9.4% from $10.6 billion a year earlier. Thanks to the improved earnings, SNC raised its quarterly dividend by 25%, to $0.15 a share from $0.12. The new annual rate of $0.60 yields 1.9%. SNC expects its 2009 earnings will grow to $2.25 a share, and the shares now trade at 13.8 times this estimate…