Updating Symantec Corp., BMTC Group and Wyndham Worldwide

Article Excerpt

SYMANTEC CORP. $30.41 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (650-527-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 618.8 million; Market cap: $18.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.0%) recently formed Symantec Ventures, a cybersecurity venture-capital business to serve as an incubator for startup firms. The support could include funding as well as access to Symantec software that lets startups accelerate their development. Symantec Ventures aims to invest in new and emerging technologies, such as analytics and artificial intelligence, to add to the company’s portfolio of products. Utimately, the new business could also give Symantec access to possible acquisition prospects. Symantec is a top pick for 2017. BMTC GROUP $12.95 (Toronto symbol GBT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (514-648-5757; No website; Shares outstanding: 36.7 million; Market cap: $477.4 million; Dividend yield: 1.9%) will continue to aggressively repurchase its shares. Stock buybacks reduce the number of shares outstanding. That, in turn, boosts earnings per share since profit is divided among fewer shares. The higher pershare earnings then helps to increase share prices. Over the…