A new pick for gains amid the crisis

Article Excerpt

This month, we’re adding a new stock for subscribers of Canadian Wealth Advisor. As a key supermarket chain in Canada, Metro Inc. is building on its strong market position to supply consumers with food and drugs during the COVID-19 outbreak. This should steady its sales and profits in the difficult times ahead for the economy. It should thrive even more when the crisis breaks and normalcy returns. Meanwhile, despite the big stock market drop, Metro shares are proving resilient for investors. The stock is up 16.3% over the last year—and 6.1% so far this year. METRO INC., $57.08, is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol MRU; Shares o/s: 254.2 million; Market cap: $14.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.6%; www.metro.ca) operates 950 grocery stores and 650 drugstores, in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. In the three months ended December 21, 2019, Metro’s sales rose 1.3%, to $4.03 billion from $3.98 billion. Investors saw same-store sales for food stores rise 1.4%, while same-store sales at the…