Topic: How To Invest

POWER CORP. $27.66 – Toronto symbol POW

POWER CORP. $27.66 (Toronto symbol POW; Shares outstanding: 409.3 million; Market cap: $11.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%) is a diversified holding company. It holds its financial assets through 66.1%-owned Power Financial.

Power Corp.’s financial assets include 68.4% of Great-West Lifeco, one of Canada’s largest life insurers, and 56.6% of IGM Financial, one of the country’s leading mutual-fund companies. Power Financial also owns 50% of holding company Parjointco, which holds a 54.1% stake in Switzerland-listed Pargesa Holdings SA. Pargesa has 95% of its assets in five large European companies: Imerys (minerals), Total SA (oil), Pernod Ricard (wine and spirits), Suez (energy, water and waste

services) and Lafarge SA (cement and building materials). Excluding one-time items, Power Corp.’s earnings rose 8.7%, to $274 million, or $0.58 a share, in the three months ended September 30, 2010. A year earlier, it earned $252 million, or $0.53 a share. The increase came from a higher contribution from Power Financial, which gained from its holdings in Great-West Lifeco and IGM Financial.

Power Corp.’s shares yield 4.2%. The stock trades at 10.6 times next year’s forecast earnings of $2.60 a share. Like many holding companies, Power Corp. trades at a discount to the total value of its individual assets. This discount is currently around 15%. That’s a plus, because you have more assets working for you.

Power Corp. is still a safety-conscious buy.

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