Dividend hike is a sign of confidence

Article Excerpt

FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. $33 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol FTT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 156.2 million; Market cap: $5.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.finning.com) continues to benefit as the re-opening of the world’s economies spurs demand for its heavy equipment and maintenance services. Revenue in the first quarter of 2022 rose 22.4%, to $1.95 billion from $1.60 billion a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings jumped 68.6%, to $0.59 from $0.35. The company will probably earn $2.48 a share in 2022, and the stock trades a moderate 13.3 times that estimate. Finning is also raising your quarterly dividend by 4.9% with the June 2022 payment, to $0.236 a share instead of $0.225. The new annual rate of $0.944 yields 2.9%. Finning is a buy. buy…