More stores, higher dividend

Article Excerpt

LEON’S FURNITURE LTD. $12.53 (Toronto symbol LNF; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (416-243-7880; www.leons.ca; Shares outstanding: 72.3 million; Market cap: $905.9 million; Dividend yield: 3.2%) saw its sales fall 4.3% in the latest quarter, to $174.4 million from $182.1 million a year earlier. Weaker consumer spending and a drop in new-housing starts held back sales. Earnings per share fell 4.0%, to $0.24 from $0.25. Leon’s plans to speed up its expansion by opening roughly five new stores a year over the next five years. It is also renovating many of its existing stores. The company is raising its quarterly dividend by 11.1% with the January 2012 payment, to $0.10 a share from $0.09. The new annual rate of $0.40 yields 3.2%. Leon’s is still a hold. hold…