Acquisition should buoy revenue

Article Excerpt

RUSSEL METALS INC. $37 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol RUS; Cyclical-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 58.7 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; Dividend yield: 4.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.russelmetals.com) is a leading metals distributor in North America, with more than 30,000 end customers. With the June 2024 payment, Russel raised your quarterly dividend by 5.0%, to $0.42 a share from $0.40. The new annual rate of $1.68 yields an attractive 4.5%. In August 2024, the company completed its purchase of seven service centre locations (5 in Western Canada and 2 in the U.S.) from Samuel, Son & Co. for $225 million. The new operations will probably add $700 million to Russel’s annual revenue of $4.3 billion. The stock also trades at an attractive 11.5 times the $3.23 a share that the company should earn in 2024. Russel Metals is a buy. buy. …