Further gains ahead for CP Rail

Article Excerpt

The economic recovery continues to increase CP Rail’s shipments of forest products, coal, potash, grain, steel and cars. This new growth and the company’s aggressive cost cuts almost doubled its earnings in the latest quarter. Ongoing capital spending should help it take even better advantage of rising demand. CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $62.60 (Toronto symbol CP; Shares outstanding: 168.7 million; Market cap: $10.6 billion; SI Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.7%) ships freight over a rail network between Montreal and Vancouver. CP Rail’s U.S. subsidiaries connect its Canadian lines to hubs in the midwest and northeast. In the three months ended June 30, 2010, CP’s revenue rose 19.7%, to $1.23 billion from $1.03 billion. Earnings rose 23%, to $166.6 million, or $0.99 a share, from $135.5 million, or $0.81. If you exclude all unusual items, CP’s per-share earnings jumped 95.7%, to $0.92 from $0.47. The company’s $4.2 billion of debt is down 10.6% from a year ago, and is a manageable 39.6% of…