Linamar set to profit from automakers’ shift

Article Excerpt

LINAMAR CORP. $56 (Toronto symbol LNR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; s/o: 65.3 million; Market cap: $3.7 billion; p/s ratio: 0.6; Divd. yield: 0.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.linamar.com) makes a variety of automotive parts, including cylinder heads, cylinder blocks, camshafts, crankshafts and connecting rods. This business provides about 90% of the company’s revenue and 85% of its earnings. The remaining 10% of revenue and 15% of earnings comes from self-propelled, scissor-type elevating work platforms. Linamar sells them, and other machinery such as wind turbines, under the Skyjack name. New car sales and acquisition fuel growth Thanks partly to rising demand for new cars, Linamar’s revenue jumped 86.4%, from $3.2 billion in 2012 to $6.0 billion in 2016. Earnings soared 257.4%, from $146.1 million to $522.1 million; per-share earnings rose 252.0%, from $2.25 to $7.92, on more shares outstanding. The company has also benefitted from its February 2016 acquisition of Montupet, a French maker of aluminum car parts, with global operations. It paid…