Updating Andrew Peller Ltd.

Article Excerpt

ANDREW PELLER LTD. (Toronto symbols ADW.A $18 and ADW.B $18; Conservative Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 42.6 million; Market cap: $766.8 million; Dividend yield: 1.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.andrewpeller.com) is Canada’s second-largest wine producer. Peller last raised its quarterly dividend by 10.3% in June 2017. Investors now receive $0.045 a share; the current annual rate of $0.18 yields 1.0%. In October 2017, the company acquired three wineries in B.C.: Black Hills Estate, Gray Monk Estate, and Tinhorn Creek. In all, it paid $94.8 million. That price consisted of $77.6 million in cash, plus $17.2 million worth of class A common shares. The new operations expand Peller’s portfolio of premium brands. They generate higher profits per litre than regular wines. Meantime, sales for the company’s fiscal 2018 third quarter, ended December 31, 2017, rose 10.1%, to $103.6 million from $94.0 million a year earlier. The three new wineries contributed $5.0 million to Peller’s third quarter sales. Earnings before unusual items jumped 60.2%, to $12.4 million…