A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week
Boyd Group Income Fund (STAR)
That horrible scraping sound when you wrap your car around a concrete pillar in a parking garage? It’s music to the ears of Boyd Group investors. Shares of the company – which operates a fast-growing network of auto-body and glass repair shops in Canada and the United States – surged after Boyd Group reported a 19.4-per-cent increase in sales and 29.1-per-cent jump in net earnings for the fourth quarter, boosted by acquisitions and higher same-store revenues. The folks at Boyd Group are very, very sorry to hear about your little accident.
Maple Leaf Foods (STAR)
Whether you enjoy eating a smoked turkey sandwich for lunch or just carrying around a few loose slices of Black Forest ham in your pocket for a quick snack on the go, you’ve got to love cold cuts. Here’s another way to enjoy cold cuts: Invest in Maple Leaf Foods. Shares of the meat producer rallied after TD Securities upgraded the stock to “action list buy” from “buy," citing lower feed costs and other factors that will improve “pork fundamentals” by the middle of the year. Pork fundamentals? I gotta try some of those.
DSW (DOG)
Business quiz! Shares of DSW, which operates retail stores under the Designer Shoe Warehouse and The Shoe Co. banners, fell the most in nearly five years after the company: a) wrote off its new line of battery-powered light-up dress shoes for adults after customers rejected them as “stupid” and “childish”; b) was hit by a class-action lawsuit from consumers who suffered ankle fractures when their faulty high-heeled shoes fell apart; c) reported a loss for the fourth quarter and gave a disappointing 2019 forecast. Answer: c.
Guess (DOG)
A denim jacket for $168? I’ll take two – and a $128 hoodie, please. I don’t know if Guess’s high prices had anything to do with it, but the clothing retailer’s fourth-quarter results came up short of expectations. Making matters worse, the company projected a loss of 25 US cents to 29 US cents a share for the first quarter ending May 4 – roughly double the loss that analysts had been expecting. No wonder the stock got ripped like a $118 pair of Guess distressed jeans.
Northland Power (DOG)
Wind power is great – as long as you’re not a bird flying too close to a turbine. Shares of Northland Power, which owns wind, solar and thermal generating assets, got caught in the whirling blades after company chairman Jim Temerty sold a chunk of his holdings in a bought deal priced at $23.35 a share for proceeds of $750-million. With the sale for estate-planning purposes completed at roughly a 9-per-cent discount to Northland’s price before the deal was announced, investors don’t know what hit them.