The TSX has been off to a great start this year after an abysmal finish to 2019. And while it’s been performing very well, rising 15% year to date, the three stocks listed below have done even better and are all up by more than 20%.
Thomson Reuters (TSX: TRI)(NYSE:TRI) has risen by 21% since January and the stock shows no signs of slowing down. It is trading at not just a high for the year but at an all-time high as well. The stock was benefiting from the bullishness in the markets that we saw at the start of 2019 and it also got a big boost when the company released its year-end results back in February. Sales were up 7% for the quarter and were an encouraging sign for investors.
What likely sparked a lot of excitement was that although Thomson Reuters saw just 4% revenue growth for the full year, it expects between 7% and 8.5% for 2019 along with another 3.5-4.5% growth in 2020. Those are not bad numbers for a stock that has been a very stable buy over the years and pays investors a solid dividend as well. There’s a lot of value in the stock and it still trades at a very reasonable 13 times earnings.
Restaurant Brands International (TSX: QSR)(NYSE: QSR) got a boost back in January when it pre-released key numbers from its upcoming earnings. A dividend increase combined with favourable same-store growth numbers were enough to give the stock some momentum. Tim Hortons in particular had been struggling in recent quarters and word of some positive results was definitely a welcome change.
While there are still question marks surrounding the brand and how well it will do, especially in its international expansion, news of decent growth numbers was definitely the catalyst behind the stock being up 24% this year. Overall, Restaurant Brands has done a good job of consistently producing profits for shareholders. As it continues to hike its payouts, it’s going to get more attention from dividend investors.
Like Thomson Reuters, Restaurant Brands is also trading around its high for the year and might be a little bit expensive, but if it can continue to deliver strong results, there’s no reason the stock can’t continue to climb higher.
Roots (TSX: ROOT) is a bit of an underdog, but, surprisingly, it’s outperformed both of the stocks listed above by a wide margin. Year to date, Roots has seen its share price rise more than 40%. The reason for the stock’s ascent here is a little bit more mysterious, as the company didn’t have any big news that would have jumpstarted its share price. And the most recent quarterly results were uninspiring with the company achieving just nominal sales growth.
However, given the popularity of the brand and because it was so undervalued, it may have attracted the attention of value investors. Even now, after such an impressive rise in value, the stock is still trading below its book value and at a price-to-earnings multiple of only 16. Unlike the other stocks in this list, Roots is nowhere near its 52-week high ($13.55). For it to get anywhere near that, the company will have to show a lot more growth in future quarters.
