It’s Valentine’s Day today! This holiday is all about love and showing the ones you love that you care for them. Many people spend a fair amount of money during this day, whether it’s for buying new clothes, chocolates, flowers, jewelry, or gift cards, and going out for dinner and a movie.
Here are three stocks that should profit from the holiday of passion and that are also great buys for the long term.
Cineplex (TSX:CGX)
After a romantic dinner, what’s better than going to the movies to watch a romantic film with your loved one? If you are going to a movie theatre in Canada, there is a high chance that it’s a movie theatre owned by Cineplex. Through its operating subsidiary Cineplex Entertainment LP, Cineplex operates 165 theatres, making it the largest movie theatre chain across Canada.
While growth has slowed during the last few years, Cineplex is back on the path of growth with an earnings-growth rate estimated to be over 13% per year on average for the next five years.
Cineplex has a generous dividend yield of 6.5%. The dividend of $1.74 per share is paid monthly, making it a good choice if you want regular income. The dividend is usually raised once a year in May.
Aritzia (TSX:ATZ)
Women who want to look their best on Valentine’s Day should find what they’re looking for at an Aritzia’s store. This fashion retailer offers a unique collection of beautifully designed clothes that are on trend and high quality. A gift card from this retailer is also a very nice gift for a woman.
Aritzia is growing and expanding fast. Indeed, the retailer has had 17th consecutive quarters of growth in comparable-store sales so far.
Because of this growing popularity, especially in the U.S., Aritzia will keep opening new stores in the coming years. Indeed, a handful of new boutiques and expansions are coming in 2019, but 2020 will be Aritzia’s biggest year yet for U.S. expansion, because the brand will open six boutiques in the country during that fiscal year.
Earnings are expected to grow by about 20% annually for the next five years, which is a high growth rate for a clothes retailer. What helps to increase the brand awareness is celebrities like Meghan Markle wearing Aritzia clothes voluntarily.
MTY Food Group (TSX:MTY)
Don’t want to cook on Valentine’s Day? Why not go buy sushi at a Sushi Shop or Thai food at a Thai Express for a simple yet delicious dinner? If you’re looking for something fancier, a dinner at Baton Rouge will do the trick.
You may not be aware of it, but these three popular restaurants are part of MTY Food Group, a Canadian franchisor and operator of numerous casual dining and quick-service restaurants operating under more than 70 brand names. Most of these restaurants are located in high-traffic areas such as shopping malls, so they are very well attended.
Things are going very well for the franchisor. Growth has been strong lately and will continue to be, as earnings are expected to grow by more than 20% on average annually for the next five years.
This strong growth allows the company to increase its dividend fast. On January 21, MTY announced that it was increasing its quarterly dividend by 10% to $0.165 per share, which gives a yield of almost 1% at the current stock price. It’s the seventh increase since its first dividend declared in 2010.
