Growth plan set to lift dividend 45%

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. (class A non-voting) is a buy. The retailer (Toronto symbols CTC $285 and CTC.A $162; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 60.8 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) continues to make progress with its new long-term growth plan, including upgrading its stores, online platforms and private-label brands. In all, the company will spend $3.4 billion on these initiatives over the next four years. Canadian Tire expects those investments will increase its same-store sales by at least 4% annually. The higher sales should also lift its projected earnings per share from $17.00 a share in 2023 to $26.00 in 2025. The company aims to pay a dividend of between 40% and 50% of the prior year’s earnings. As a result, the higher projected earnings could increase the annual rate by nearly half, from the current $6.90 a share (for a yield of 4.3%) to at least $10.00 a share by 2026. Canadian Tire class A stock…