Big Telus investments continue to pay off

TELUS CORP. $47 (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares o/s: 598.2 million; Market cap: $28.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) has 9.15 million subscribers and is Canada’s third-largest wireless carrier after Rogers (No. 1) and… Read More

Two energy producers, but just one is a buy

In response to weaker oil and natural gas prices, Encana has decided to aggressively expand in the U.S., while Cenovus is cutting its output.
We’re confident that both approaches will pay off. However, Encana’s big, newly announced acquisition increases its risk, which is why the stock… Read More

Russel can handle U.S. tariffs

RUSSEL METALS INC. $21 (Toronto symbol RUS; Cyclical-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares o/s: 62.1 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Dividend yield: 7.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.russelmetals.com) is one of North America’s largest metal distributors.
Russel continues to pay quarterly dividends of $0.38 a.. Read More

A Yield to Caution:

SLEEP COUNTRY CANADA $21 (Toronto symbol ZZZ; Shares o/s: 37.1 million; Market cap: $779.1 million; Divd. yield: 3.5%; www.sleepcountry.ca) is the dominant specialty mattress retailer in Canada, with 256 stores.
The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.185 for a 3.5% yield.
Sleep Country’s brick-and-mortar stores face intensifying competition from… Read More

RioCan nears key Milestone

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $24.77 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units o/s: 306.8 million; Market cap: $7.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.8%; www.riocan.com) is preparing to lease the units of its first rental development, eCentral, in midtown Toronto before the end of this year. Those 466… Read More

Keystone waits on courts

TRANSCANADA CORP. $55.32 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares o/s: 914.0 million; Market cap: $50.3 billion; Above Average; Divd. yield: 5.0%; www.transcanada.com) operates a 91,900-kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to eastern Canada and the U.S. Its other operations include 4,900 kilometres of crude oil pipelines… Read More

ETF Performance Highlights

Natural gas has some of the most volatile and unpredictable price movements among mainstream commodities. In the past, this has caused considerable losses for even highly experienced trading teams at major financial institutions. Natural gas lived up to its reputation in November 2018 with the US… Read More

Big acquisition should send Quaker higher

QUAKER CHEMICAL CORP. $206 (New York symbol KWR; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares o/s: 13.3 million; Market cap: $2.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 0.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.quakerchem.com) started up in 1918 and currently operates 35 plants in 21 countries. Those facilities make… Read More