Top holdings add appeal

Article Excerpt

POWER CORP. $29.36 (Toronto symbol POW; Shares outstanding: 414.4 million; Market cap: $13.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.9%; www.powercorporation.com) is a holding company with a diversified list of businesses. It holds its financial assets through its 65.6%-owned Power Financial. In the quarter ended December 31, 2017, Power Corp.’s earnings per share rose 1.1%, to $0.90 from $0.89 a year earlier. Power Financial’s assets include 67.6% interest in insurer Great-West Lifeco and 61.5% of mutual-fund provider IGM Financial. Through its 50% stake in Parjointco, Power Financial also holds 55.5% of Swiss-listed Pargesa Holdings SA. Pargesa has 95% of its assets in seven large European firms. Power Corp. is a buy. buy…