Niche retailer offers a high yield

Article Excerpt

NORTH WEST COMPANY $52 is a buy. This retailer (Toronto symbol NWC; High-Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 47.7 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Dividend yield: 3.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.northwest.ca) sells food and everyday products and services at 229 stores, mainly in northern communities across Canada, as well as in Alaska, the South Pacific and the Caribbean. With the October 2024 payment, North West raised your quarterly dividend by 2.6%. Investors now receive $0.40 a share instead of $0.39. The annual rate of $1.60 yields 3.1%. In North West’s fiscal 2025 second quarter, ended July 31, 2024, overall sales rose 4.6%, to $646.5 million from $618.1 million a year earlier. Excluding currency rates, sales grew at a slightly slower rate of 3.8%. Same-store sales rose 4.3% in the quarter, reflecting growth at its Canadian operations (up 6.8%) and international outlets (up 0.9%). Excluding one-time items, earnings rose 1.8%, to $40.7 million, or $0.84 a share, from $40.0 million, or $0.83. North West Co. is…