Topic: How To Invest

The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, February 17, 2017

Article Excerpt

TRANSCANADA CORP., $62.24, Toronto symbol TRP, operates a 90,300-kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to eastern Canada and the U.S. Its other operations include 4,250 kilometers of crude oil pipelines and 17 power plants. On July 1, 2016, the company completed its acquisition of Texas-based Columbia Pipeline Group. It paid $13 billion U.S. for the business. It operates underground gas storage terminals and natural gas pipelines in the U.S. Northeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions. By adding those operations, TransCanada earned $626 million in the three months ended December 31, 2016. That’s up 72.4% from $453 million a year earlier. The company sold shares to help pay for Columbia. Due to more shares outstanding, earnings per share rose at a slower pace of 17.2%, to $0.75 from $0.64. Those figures exclude the costs to integrate Columbia as well as other unusual items. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.72 a share. Mainly due to the Columbia…