Lower costs bolster IGM’s dividend

Article Excerpt

IGM FINANCIAL INC. $39 is a buy. The mutual fund seller (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares o/s: 237.8 million; Market cap: $9.3 billion; P-to-S ratio: 2.7; Divd. yield: 5.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.igmfinancial.com) has announced several new initiatives in a plan to improve efficiency. Those include selling excess real estate and eliminating overlapping functions between its Mackenzie and IG Wealth Management divisions. As a result, the company recorded a one-time, after-tax charge of $76.2 million in the second quarter of 2023. If you exclude all unusual items, IGM’s earnings in the quarter fell 1.1%, to $0.86 a share (or a total of $205.5 million) from $0.87 a share ($207.1 million) a year earlier due to net outflows at its mutual fund and wealth management operations. However, IGM expects the restructuring will cut $48 million (after-tax) from annual costs by the end of 2025. It intends to re-invest about half of that savings in new computer systems and new growth projects…