Two growth stocks poised for gains

Article Excerpt

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $60.65 (Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Average) (1-800-3612612; www.couchetard.com; Shares outstanding: 567.4 million; Market cap: $34.8 billion; Dividend yield: 0.6%) operates 10,869 convenience stores throughout North America and Europe. In the three months ended April 30, 2017, sales increased 30.1%, to $9.62 billion from $7.40 billion a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). Earnings per share jumped 36.8%, to $0.52 from $0.38. The big gains were due to profitable acquisitions as well as cost controls. Couche-Tard has just completed its purchase of fuel and convenience store chain CST Brands for $4.4 billion U.S. Its bid beat 7-Eleven’s. As part of the deal, the company sold a significant portion of CST’s Canadian assets to Parkland Industries (symbol PKI on Toronto) for $986.0 million. Couche-Tard has now announced another U.S. purchase—Holiday Stationstores. The company has yet to reveal the purchase price, but it likely paid somewhere in the range of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion. Holiday is a major convenience…