Canadian Tire is firing on all cylinders

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN TIRE CORP. $70 (Toronto symbol CTC.A; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 81.1 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) operates 490 Canadian Tire stores, which specialize in automotive, household and sporting goods. The company owns these stores, but franchisees operate most of them. Canadian Tire also operates 299 gas stations and 87 Part Source auto parts stores. In the past few years, the company has diversified its product lines by purchasing retailers with specialized products. These include Mark’s, which sells casual clothing though 386 stores, and Forzani Group, which sells sporting goods through 495 outlets, mainly under the Sport Chek banner. As well, Canadian Tire will soon complete its $85- million purchase of Pro Hockey Life, which sells hockey equipment through 23 stores.Strong recovery after recession The recession and low gasoline prices cut Canadian Tire’s sales by 4.8%, from $9.1 billion in 2008 to $8.7 billion in 2009…