Growth Stocks
Although growth stock picks can be highly volatile, they can make good long-term investments. They may be well-known stars or quiet gems, but they do share one common attribute—they are growing at a higher-than-average rate within their industry, or within the market as a whole, and could keep growing for years or decades.
And keep in mind that we focus on growth stocks, which have a good long-term history and favourable prospects. We downplay momentum stocks that tend to attract many investors simply because they are moving faster than the market averages, but are liable to fall sharply when their momentum fades.
There’s room for growth stock investing in your portfolio, but make sure you follow our TSI Network three-part Successful Investor strategy for your overall portfolio:
- Invest mainly in well-established companies;
- Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; Utilities);
- Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.
Make better stock picks when you read this FREE Special Report, Canadian Growth Stocks: WestJet Stock, RioCan Stock and More.
Read More
Close
Growth Stocks Library Archives
PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, April 13, 2012. NISSAN MOTOR CO., $20.95, symbol NSANY on Nasdaq, reported record U.S. sales in March. Overall, the company sold 136,317 cars and trucks in the U.S. during the month. That’s up 12.5% from 121,141 vehicles in March 2011. The Nissan division’s sales jumped 14.8%, to a record 126,132 vehicles. Infiniti sales rose 9.8%, to 10,185 vehicles....
PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Thursday, April 5, 2012. MCCORMICK & CO. INC., $54.43, New York symbol MKC, makes spices, herbs, seasonings, specialty foods and flavours. It sells these products to grocery stores and other clients in the food industry. In its fiscal 2012 first quarter, which ended February 29, 2012, McCormick’s sales rose 15.8%, to $906.7 million from $782.8 million a year earlier. About half of this increase came from recently acquired spice makers and food companies in India and Eastern Europe....
PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Thursday, April 5, 2012. AASTRA TECHNOLOGIES, $21.50, symbol AAH on Toronto, is buying back up to $50 million worth of its 14.0 million outstanding common shares through a Dutch auction process. Aastra develops and markets products and systems for accessing communication networks, including the Internet. Its technology is centred around business telephone systems, and includes products that integrate land lines and mobile phones....
APPLE INC., $596.05, Nasdaq symbol AAPL, hit a new all-time high of $609.65 this week after the company said it would begin paying a quarterly dividend of $2.65 a share in the fourth quarter of its current fiscal year, which ends September 30, 2012. The annual rate of $10.60 yields 1.8%. The company will also buy back $10 billion of its shares over the next three years. That’s equal to 2% of Apple’s $555.7-billion market cap. In all, these moves will cost the company $45 billion. It held cash and investments of $97.6 billion, or $104.70 a share, at the end of 2011, so it will still have plenty of cash to keep developing new products and investing in other growth projects....
VITERRA INC., $15.91, symbol VT on Toronto, has agreed to a friendly takeover offer from Switzerland-based commodity trader Glencore International plc. The purchase price is $6.1 billion, or $16.25 per Viterra share. As part of the deal, Glencore will sell a number of Viterra’s assets, including about 90% of its Canadian fertilizer retail stores and all of its Australian outlets, along with Viterra’s 34% stake in a fertilizer plant in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Agrium (symbol AGU on Toronto) has agreed to buy all of these assets. Agrium is a recommendation of our Successful Investor newsletter....
Cintas’s shares fell from $43 in 2007 to just $18 in March 2009, mainly because the recession prompted businesses to slash their spending on the company’s uniform rentals and other services. That prompted Cintas to cut its costs, mainly by closing plants and merging delivery routes. The savings helped it deal with rising fuel and cotton prices in the wake of the downturn. Cintas also made its sales force more efficient by training each employee to sell all of its products, instead of focusing on just one. These moves are starting to pay off for the company, and the stock has rebounded strongly as a result. We feel it will keep climbing as the U.S. economy continues to recover. CINTAS CORP. $39 (Nasdaq symbol CTAS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 129.7 million; Market cap: $5.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cintas.com) provides a wide range of products and services to over 900,000 businesses, mainly in North America....
APPLE INC. $603 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 932.4 million; Market cap: $562.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.4; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) is up about 50% since the start of 2012, mainly due to strong sales of its iPhone smartphones and iPad tablet computers. The company now plans to reward its shareholders by returning some of its $97.6 billion, or $104.70 a share, in cash and investments (as of the end of 2011.) In the fourth quarter of its current fiscal year, which ends September 30, 2012, Apple will start paying quarterly dividends of $2.65 a share; the annual rate of $10.60 yields 1.8%. Apple also plans to buy back $10 billion of its shares over the next three years....
Most banks are writing off fewer mortgages and other loans, but low interest rates continue to dampen their profits. At the same time, rising competition is making it harder to attract new depositors. We feel the best way to expand your Finance sector holdings right now is with high-quality non-bank stocks, such as eBay, T. Rowe Price, Western Union and Moody’s. EBAY INC. $38 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $49.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) operates the world’s largest auction website, with over 99 million users. It also processes online financial transactions, mostly through its PayPal subsidiary....
MOODY’S CORP. $42 (New York symbol MCO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 222.9 million; Market cap: $9.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.1; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.moodys.com) continues to see rising demand for its credit ratings as the global economy improves. In 2011, the company’s earnings rose 12.1%, to $564.4 million from $503.3 million in 2010. Moody’s spent $333.8 million on share buybacks during the year. Because of fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 15.5%, to $2.46 from $2.13. Revenue rose 12.2%, to $2.3 billion from $2.0 billion. For 2012, Moody’s expects to earn $2.68 a share. The stock trades at 15.7 times that estimate. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 14.3%, to $0.16 a share from $0.14. The new annual rate of $0.64 yields 1.5%. Moody’s is a buy.
NORDSTROM INC. $55 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 207.9 million; Market cap: $11.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nordstrom.com) is now offering free shipping for all purchases made at over 100 of its 225 upscale department stores; it already offers free shipping on online purchases. Free shipping adds to its costs, but Nordstrom feels this move will give it an edge over its main rivals. Meanwhile, Nordstrom’s sales rose 16.2% in February 2012, to $704 million from $606 million in February 2011. Same-store sales rose 10.2%. Nordstrom is a buy.