Got $6,000 to invest, but don’t know what to buy? Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD.B) and Cascades (TSX:CAS) are two good stocks to buy now as markets are choppy. With $6,000, you can buy 100 shares in each of these stocks.
Let’s see why you should invest in these two Canadian stocks.
Couche-Tard is still a solid investment
Couche-Tard is a leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. Although shares have climbed by more than 30% since March 23, they should continue to do well. Indeed, Couche-Tard is one of the ways to bet on the reopening of the economy among the consumer staples sector. The stock is less volatile than the market with a beta of 0.8.
In addition, the company benefits from a solid balance sheet and ample liquidity, allowing it to jump on acquisition opportunities.
Couche-Tard has implemented a host of measures to ensure the safety of its employees, including a bonus of US$2.50 to the base hourly rate, the extension of wages for confined employees suffering from COVID-19, or even access to a virtual medical aid service.
To adapt to the pandemic, the company has moved ahead with the implementation of several initiatives, including home delivery service in 620 convenience stores in North America, as well as outside store pick-up of goods ordered with the Circle K app.
The pandemic affects Couche-Tard’s short-term operations but doesn’t derail its long-term strategic plan. It’s a great stock to own if you invest for the long term.
Circle K, a subsidiary of Couche-Tard, announced last week that it has committed to donating a portion of its revenue from fuel transactions to Food Banks Canada.
Consumers across Canada who choose their local Circle K stores – or Couche-Tard in Quebec – to buy fuel will support their local food banks. The company invites Canadians to fill up at Circle K stores to help it meet or even exceed its goal of donating the equivalent of five million meals.
Couche-Tard revenue is expected to decline by 8% $54 billion in 2020, but EPS is expected to grow by 15% to $1.91.
Invest in Cascades to protect your portfolio from a crash
Cascades is one of the few stocks that benefitted from the pandemic. The stock has a year-to-date return of more than 25%.
The demand for tissue paper and essential packaging products Cascades is producing has increased sharply during this COVID-19 pandemic. President and CEO Mario Plourde said that the company’s facilities are able to answer the increased demand.
Cascades is a leader in environmentally friendly recycling, hygiene, and packaging solutions. Last week, the company announced the launch of its new line of Cascades Fresh packaging products for fruits and vegetables designed for producers, packers, and retailers.
Cascades Fresh packaging solutions use different types of cardboard and recovered plastics to offer a complete and multi-material range of ecological, recycled, and 100% recyclable products in order to reduce the environmental footprint of packaging.
Cascades is the kind of company you can invest in to protect your portfolio from a market crash, as it has a negative beta of -0.06. It’s one of the few Canadian stocks that’s expected to report both revenue and profit growth for this year. Sales are estimated to rise by 5% to $5.3 billion, whereas EPS should increase by 4% to $1.06.
Cascades pays a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share. The dividend yield is 2%.
