Better efficiency spurs its profits

Article Excerpt

TOROMONT INDUSTRIES LTD. $108 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol TIH; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 82.5 million; Market cap: $8.9 billion; Dividend yield: 1.4%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.toromont.com) distributes a range of industrial equipment, including Caterpillar machinery, in eastern Canada. It also makes refrigeration systems through its CIMCO business. With the April 2022 payment, Toromont raised your quarterly dividend by 11.4%, to $0.39 a share from $0.35. The new annual rate of $1.56 yields 1.4%. In the quarter ended March 31, 2022, revenue rose 6.7%, to $860.1 million from $806.2 million a year earlier. That’s due to stronger demand for heavy equipment and related services as the economy rebounded from COVID-19 lockdowns. However, supply chain shortages hurt sales of refrigerated equipment. Still, improving efficiency helped lift earnings by 24.1%, to $0.72 from $0.58. Toromont is a buy. buy…