These small caps are boosting investor value

Article Excerpt

Here are two small-cap firms using acquisitions and spinoffs to improve their prospects. These moves should give them more room to increase their dividends. LEON’S FURNITURE LTD. $21 is a buy. The retailer (Toronto symbol LNF; High-Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 68.0 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; Dividend yield: 3.4%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Average; www.leons.ca) operates 303 stores that sell furniture and home appliances, mainly under the Leon’s, The Brick, and Appliance Canada banners. With the January 2024 payment, the company raised your quarterly dividend by 12.5%, to $0.18 a share from $0.16. The new annual rate of $0.72 yields a solid 3.4%. In May 2023, Leon’s announced that it will transfer its real estate holdings to a real estate investment trust (REIT) that it plans to set up. It then would hand out units in the REIT to its shareholders, or sell units to the public through an initial public offering. However, the company will wait until interest rates decline to ensure the REIT’s…