Buy Toromont, Hold Goodyear Tire

Article Excerpt

TOROMONT INDUSTRIES LTD. $20.51 (Toronto symbol TIH; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (416-667-5511; www.toromont.com; Shares outstanding: 64.6 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion) operates in two business segments: the equipment group and the compression group. The equipment group’s Caterpillar dealership, which covers Ontario, Manitoba, Newfoundland, and most of Labrador and Nunavut, is one of the world’s largest. It also includes rental operations. Also part of this group is Toromont Energy, which supplies, builds and operates high-efficiency power plants. Toromont’s compression group designs, engineers, builds and installs compression systems for natural gas, fuel gas and carbon dioxide, as well as industrial and recreational refrigeration systems. Toromont’s revenues rose 13.7% in the three months ended December 31, 2008, to $609.7 million from $536.2 million. Earnings rose 26%, to $49.1 million, or $0.76 a share, from $39 million, or $0.61 a share, a year earlier. In the latest quarter, higher compression group sales, mostly to U.S. natural gas customers, offset lower equipment sales. Infrastructure funds will boost sales Equipment group bookings…