Our top three picks for 2018

Article Excerpt

Dear safe-money investor: We’ve selected our top picks for 2018—one stock, one real estate investment trust (REIT) and one exchange-traded fund (ETF). Each offers an attractive combination of growth prospects and a reasonable price. We feel that investors will profit the most by holding a well-balanced portfolio of high-quality stocks and REITs—like our first two recommendations below. If you want to supplement your individual stock holdings, then ETFs, like our third recommendation, provide a sound alternative. PEMBINA PIPELINE $41.93 (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 502.5 million; Market cap: $20.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.pembina.com) owns pipelines that carry almost all of B.C.’s oil and half of Alberta’s conventional oil. Its network also transports 30% of Western Canada’s natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company owns extensive facilities to extract, process and store NGLs; it also operates natural gas-processing plants. In the quarter ended September 30, 2017, Pembina’s cash flow per share rose 21.9%, to $0.78 from $0.64. The gain was…