CP adds shareholder value

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY $213.72 (Toronto symbol CP; shares outstanding: 147.7 million; Market cap: $31.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 1.1%; www.cpr. ca) ships freight over a 22,000-kilometre rail network between Montreal and Vancouver. It links to hubs in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. The company will raise its quarterly dividend by 12.5%, starting with the July 2017 payment. That means CP investors will receive $0.5625 a share, up from $0.50. The new annual rate of $2.25 yields 1.1%. CP also announced a new plan to buy back up to 4.4 million of its common shares, or 3% of the total outstanding. It expects to complete those purchases by May 14, 2018. Share buybacks give the remaining shareholders a larger stake in the company. They also raise earnings per share and other pershare calculations. On the whole, buyers are willing to pay slightly more for a stock with even a minor increase in earnings per share. CP Rail is still a buy. buy…