Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Please could you give me your recommendation on Bird Construction? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

Bird Construction Inc., $12.21, symbol BDT on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 42.5 million; Market cap: $515.3 million; www.bird.ca), focuses on projects in a number of markets, including industrial, commercial, institutional, civil construction and mining. The company began operating 96 years ago in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Today, it has offices in St. John’s, Halifax, Saint John, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Bird’s industrial projects supplied 51% of its 2015 revenue, and include work in the petrochemical, oil sands, and wastewater-treatment sectors. Institutional work supplies 34% of the company’s revenue. Projects here include hospitals, prisons, schools, university buildings and military facilities. Commercial projects (15%) include big-box stores, shopping malls and grocery stores. Thanks to an acquisition, Bird’s revenue jumped 49.3% from $974.5 million in 2011 to $1.45 billion in 2012. Revenue then fell to $1.33 billion in 2013, but recovered to $1.36 billion in 2014. It rose again, to $1.44 billion in 2015. Excluding unusual items, earnings increased 93.4%, from $0.76 a share (or…