Canadian Tire invests for online growth

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. (Toronto symbols CTC $191 and CTC.A $142; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 71.6 million; Market cap: $10.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Divd. yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) owns 499 Canadian Tire stores across Canada. They sell automotive, household and sporting goods. Franchisees run most of the outlets. The company’s other operations include 296 gas stations and 91 PartSource auto parts stores. Recent acquisitions paid off In response to growing competition from big U.S. retailers such as Wal-Mart and Costco, Canadian Tire acquired Mark’s, which sells casual and work clothing through 382 stores. It also purchased the Forzani Group, which sells sporting goods and athletic wear through 429 stores, including Sport Chek and Sports Experts. The new operations helped Canadian Tire’s sales rise 20.0%, from $10.4 billion in 2011 to $12.5 billion in 2014. However, lower gasoline prices cut its 2015 sales by 1.5% to $12.3 billion in 2015. Earnings gained 41.2%, from $467.0 million in 2011…