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NORTH WEST COMPANY $38 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol NWC; High-Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 47.7 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; Dividend yield: 4.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.northwest.ca) sells food and everyday products and services at 219 stores. Its outlets are mainly in northern communities across Canada, Alaska, the South Pacific and the Caribbean. North West last raised your quarterly dividend with the October 2022 payment to $0.38 a share, up 2.4% from $0.37. The new annual rate of $1.52 yields a high 4.0%. In its fiscal 2023 third quarter, ended October 31, 2022, overall sales rose 6.0%, to $586.7 million from $553.7 million a year earlier. Notably, same-store sales were up 16.0% compared to the same quarter in (pre-pandemic) 2019. Excluding one-time items, earnings in the quarter fell 14.6%, to $32.8 million, or $0.69 a share, from $38.4 million, or $0.80. The decline was due to higher costs that the company has not yet been able to pass on to…