Updating ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, HART STORES INC. and EMERA INC.

Article Excerpt

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $56 (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth Portfolio; Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $78.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; SI Rating: Above Average) will buy the third party registered investment advisor servicing business of U.S. banking firm J.P. Morgan & Co. (New York symbol JPM). The deal should close in the second quarter of 2010. This business provides custody and clearing services to brokers and investment managers. It will strengthen Royal’s wealth-management operations in the U.S., which account for roughly 7% of the bank’s total revenue. Royal Bank is a buy. HART STORES INC. $1.60 (Toronto symbol HIS; Aggressive Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 13.6 million; Market cap: $21.8 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.1; SI Rating: Speculative) earned $0.08 a share in the three months ended August 1, 2009. That’s down 27.3% from $0.11 a year earlier. The company opened 12 midsized department stores over the past year, bringing its total to 91. The extra depreciation expenses weighed on…