Toromont aims to seize on a trend

Article Excerpt

TOROMONT INDUSTRIES LTD. $106 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol TIH; Aggressive Growth Portfolio; Manufacturing sector; Shares o/s: 82.3 million; Market cap: $8.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.toromont.com) distributes bulldozers, backhoe loaders and drills, including Caterpillar machinery, in eastern Canada and along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. It also makes refrigeration systems through its CIMCO business. Toromont has begun building a remanufacturing plant (re-building used equipment back to the standards of new equipment) in Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario, north of Toronto. The plan will cost $70 million, with the facility opening in early 2024. Remanufacturing helps extend the life of heavy equipment. It’s also becoming more important as rising inflation and interest rates prompt clients to repair rather than buy new equipment. Toromont likely earned $4.76 a share in 2022, and the stock trades at a reasonable 22.3 times that estimate. The $1.56 dividend yields 1.5%. Toromont Industries is a buy. buy…