Topic: How To Invest

Hi, Pat: Could I have your latest recommendations on Shaw Communications and Hudson’s Bay Co.? Regards.

Article Excerpt

Shaw Communications, $26.76, symbol SJR.B on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 469.1 million; Market cap: $12.7 billion; www.shaw.ca), is one of Canada’s largest cable TV operators. The company has 1.9 million basic cable subscribers (mostly in Western Canada) and 851,569 satellite customers through its ownership of Shaw Direct. It also provides high-speed Internet to 1.9 million clients and telephone services to another 1.3 million. In September 2014, Shaw completed its $1.2-billion purchase of Colorado-based ViaWest, a privately held operator of data centres, cloud storage and information technology services. ViaWest has 27 data centres in the western United States. In the three months ended May 31, 2015, Shaw’s revenue rose 5.7%, to $1.42 billion from $1.34 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share fell 10.6%, to $0.42 from $0.47, but if you exclude writedowns and restructuring charges, per-share earnings rose to $0.53. The company raised its monthly dividend by 7.7% with the March 2015 payment, to $0.09875 from $0.091667. The shares yield a high 4.4% and…