The name Cott Corporation (USA) (COT) may not be on the lips of everyone who has sipped an RC Cola, an AquaTerra water or some corporate coffee, but it is a quintessentially Canadian firm that is well targeted, well managed and continuing to grow, even in this economy.
The stock is up 17% year to date, and in the past year COT has posted a 33% return, plus it throws off a respectable 1.9% dividend.
The most interesting aspect of this well-mannered grower is, its growth is overlooked by many market analysts because it’s not a Monster Beverage Corporation (MNST) story of massive growth or an institutional story like The Coca-Cola Co (KO) or PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP).
For example, did you know that COT can be found in 90% of the U.S. office coffee and water markets and is a leader in the sector in both Canada and the U.S.?
Or that it’s the first company to make a diet soft drink?
Nowadays it’s most famous because it’s one of the top private-label makers of carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks and juices — even energy drinks.
It’s everywhere, but you would never notice. And for COT stock that’s just fine, because it means its business is doing well.
COT Stock History
The company started in the early 1950s in Quebec, but had some roots in the Northeast U.S. and Canada. But it was in the 2000s when COT decided to go big. It began acquiring smaller labels and building a base of operations across Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Mexico.
In early January this year, it bought AquaTerra, Canada’s oldest and largest home and office water delivery business, for $62 million. It’s a big deal for a $1.4 billion company like COT. But it isn’t going to make many waves in the financial press since KO and PEP are more than 100x bigger than COT. Even MNST is 20x bigger.
Again, it’s keeping quiet and doing the work that needs to be done well, with no flash, no drama.
But in a turbulent market like the one we’re in now, COT is the kind of stock you want as ballast for your portfolio.
Another plus is COT stock offers a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP), so you can simply opt to have your dividends reinvested (instead disbursed) to buy more shares of COT stock. Again, this is a great feature for the kind of investors the company is interested in — long-term investors.
This isn’t a ‘play’ on the market, it’s a great stock to buy for the long haul.
Louis Navellier is a renowned growth investor. He is the editor of five investing newsletters: Blue Chip Growth, Emerging Growth, Ultimate Growth, Family Trust and Platinum Growth. His most popular service, Blue Chip Growth, has a track record of beating the market 3:1 over the last 14 years. He uses a combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify market-beating stocks. Mr. Navellier has made his proven formula accessible to investors via his free, online stock rating tool, PortfolioGrader.com. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.
