Most actively traded companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (20,761.93, up 17.76 points.) 

Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Down 56 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $25.44 on 23.3 million shares.

Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Down six cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $37.03 on 20.5 million shares. 

Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Industrials. Down three cents, or 1.9 per cent, to $1.52 on 20.4 million shares.

Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Up 22 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $53.13 on 15.9 million shares. 

Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K). Materials. Down 21 cents, or three per cent, to $6.80 on 13.3 million shares.

Athabasca Oil Corp. (TSX:ATH). Energy. Up eight cents, or 4.5 per cent, to $1.87 on 11.5 million shares.

Companies in the news: 

Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY). Down $2.88 or 2.1 per cent to $137.61. The head of RBC says market volatility caused by geopolitical risks shouldn’t be enough to throw off rate increases and the underlying strength of the economy. Chief executive Dave McKay’s comments Thursday come after Russia attacked Ukraine overnight, causing markets to gyrate and creating uncertainty on the potential fallout of the unprovoked aggression. RBC chief risk officer Graeme Hepworth said the bank has no direct or meaningful exposure to Russia or Ukraine. The geopolitical risk is only one of the economic challenges McKay highlighted, as supply chain disruptions, acute labour capacity shortages and energy market imbalances also drive uncertainty, but he said the underlying economic drivers are still strong. The bank’s optimism comes as it topped analyst expectations in its first-quarter results, earning net income of $4.1 billion or $2.84 per diluted share for the quarter ended Jan. 31, up from $3.8 billion or $2.66 per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue totalled nearly $13.1 billion, up from $12.9 billion a year earlier.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. (TSX:L). Up $3.81 or 3.9 per cent to $101.06. Canadian consumers are increasingly shopping at discount grocery chains, buying store-branded food and choosing less pricey pork or chicken rather than beef in an effort to save money amid soaring inflation, Loblaw Companies Ltd. said Thursday. The parent company of Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart said rising food prices are beginning to shape customer shopping habits. The economy is reopening from pandemic lockdowns, which could be influencing the return to discount chains such as No Frills and Maxi, said Galen G. Weston, Loblaw chairman and president, in a call with analysts the discuss the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year results. Many people favoured one-stop shopping at conventional supermarkets with more selection and services during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the grocery chain is also seeing early signs of shoppers “trading down” into less expensive product categories. The grocery and drugstore giant said its net earnings available to common shareholders totalled $744 million or $2.20 per diluted share for the 12-week period ended Jan. 1. The result compared with a profit of $345 million or 98 cents per diluted share for the 13-week period ended Jan. 2, 2021. Revenue totalled nearly $12.8 billion, down from nearly $13.3 billion a year earlier when the quarter included an extra week.

Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TECK.B). Down 56 cents or 1.2 per cent to $44.65. Teck Resources Ltd. says it remains committed to rebalancing its portfolio toward less carbon-intensive resources even though soaring prices for steelmaking coal helped push the miner to a record fourth-quarter profit. Surging global commodity prices lifted Teck to a fourth-quarter profit attributable to shareholders of nearly $1.49 billion compared with a loss of $464 million a year earlier, the company reported Thursday. The Vancouver-based miner said the profit amounted to $2.74 per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of 87 cents per diluted share in the last three months of 2020. Revenue for the quarter totalled $4.41 billion, up from $2.56 billion a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Teck said it earned a record $2.54 per diluted share in the fourth quarter, compared with an adjusted profit of 46 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2020. Record realized steelmaking coal prices of US$351 per tonne drove a $1.4-billion gross profit increase in Teck’s steelmaking coal business unit, Teck said.

Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.B). Down $1.61 or 5.4 per cent to $28.01. Quebecor Inc. raised its quarterly dividend nine per cent after reporting steady results in the fourth quarter with net income attributable to shareholders rising slightly to $160.5 million. The Quebec-based telecommunications company says it will pay a dividend of 30 cents per share on April 5, up from 27.5 cents. Its earnings increased three cents to 67 cents per share, while adjusted profits from continuing operations were flat at 66 cents per share. Revenues for the three months ended Dec. 31 increased 3.2 per cent to $1.18 billion from $1.15 billion a year earlier. Quebecor was expected to report 70 cents per share in adjusted profit on $1.17 billion of revenues, according to financial data firm Refinitiv. For the full-year, net income attributable to shareholders slipped to $578.4 million or $2.38 per share from $607.2 million or $2.41 per share, while revenues increased 5.5 per cent to $4.55 billion. Adjusted profits rose to $2.55 per share, three cents per share below analyst forecasts, but up from $2.36 per share in 2020.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2022.

The Canadian Press