Topic: Dividend Stocks

FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. $24 – Toronto symbol FTT

FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. $24 (Toronto symbol FTT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 171.6 million; Market cap: $4.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.finning.com) sells, rents and repairs tractors, bulldozers, trucks and other heavy equipment made by Caterpillar Inc. Finning’s major customers are mainly in the western Canadian mining, forest products and construction industries. The company also operates in the U.K. and South America.

Finning has been installing a new computer system that will make its Canadian operations more efficient. However, it has had difficulty implementing this new system. That has delayed parts shipments to its customers.

As a result of these problems and a five-week strike at the company’s B.C. operations, earnings fell 44.1% in the three months ended September 30, 2011, to $35.4 million, or $0.21 a share. A year earlier, it earned $63.4 million, or $0.37 a share. However, revenue rose 10.2%, to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion. Demand for new equipment was strong, especially from mining companies.

Finning trades at 15.9 times the $1.51 a share that it will probably earn in 2011. Earnings should improve to $2.05 a share in 2012 as the company begins to benefit from the new computer system. The stock trades at just 11.7 times that estimate.

Finning is a buy.

Comments

Tell Us What YOU Think

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Please be respectful with your comments and help us keep this an area that everyone can enjoy. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Terms of Use, please click here to report it to the administrator.