A low-key dividend star

Article Excerpt

ANDREW PELLER LTD. $17 (Toronto symbol ADW.A; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 14.3 million; Market cap: $243.1 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.andrewpeller.com) is a great example of a key part of our three-pronged investing strategy, which is to downplay stocks in the broker/media limelight (the other two are to invest mainly in well-established companies, and spread your money across the five main economic sectors). Peller is Canada’s second-largest wine producer, after Vincor International, but few brokers cover it due to its relatively small market cap. Even so, it has a long history of rising earnings and dividends. In its 2015 fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2015, Peller’s sales rose 6.0%, to $315.7 million from $297.8 million in 2014. That’s mainly because it launched several new products, including its skinnygrape spritzers and Panama Jack cocktails. Earnings gained 12.4%, to $15.8 million, or $1.13 a share, from $14.0 million, or $1.01. Without unusual items, such…