Forget Merger Talk, Focus On Value

Article Excerpt

MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. (Toronto symbols TPX.A $97 and TPX.B $99; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 127.8 million; Market cap: $12.5 billion; SI Rating: Average) earned $0.28 a share before special items in the first quarter of 2007, compared with a loss of $0.01 a year earlier (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). Most of the gains came from the company’s cost cutting. Sales rose 7.0%, to $1.23 billion from $1.15 billion, thanks to higher prices and better promotion of its core brands. The stock got as high as $110 in April, but has moved down lately. Still, it’s up roughly 30% in the past year. It now trades at around 18 times its forecast 2007 profit of $5.16 U.S. a share, and at 1.4 times its sales of $68 U.S. a share. Growing speculation that the company may merge with larger brewer SABMiller PLC could drive the stock higher. However, such a deal would face regulatory hurdles…