Canadian Oil, FirstService, Mirabela: Canada Stock Preview

By John Kipphoff

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in Canadian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from yesterday's close in Toronto.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 13,342.55.

Atco Ltd. (ACO/X CN): The power company was cut to ``sector perform'' from ``outperform'' at RBC Capital Markets. The shares rose 0.7 percent to C$52.06.

Canadian Oil Sands Trust (COS-U CN): The lead owner of the largest oil-sands miner said it had second-quarter net income of C$497 million ($485 million), or C$1.04 per unit, compared with a C$395 million loss a year ago.

The trust boosted its quarterly dividend by 25 percent to C$1.25 per unit and cut its output forecast. The units added 0.3 percent to C$49.06.

FirstService Corp. (FSV CN): The provider of real-estate management services was upgraded to ``outperform'' from ``market perform'' at Raymond James & Associates. Yesterday, the stock rose the most in a decade, adding 15 percent to C$16, after second-quarter earnings exceeded analysts' estimates.

Mirabela Nickel Ltd. (MNB CN): The company building the world's third-largest open-pit nickel mine in Brazil said that the Santa Rita project is being engineered and constructed for an annual capacity of 6.4 million metric tons, up 40 percent from a previous plan.

The total cost of the operation is now $387 million, up 20 percent from the previous estimate, Mirabela said. The shares rose 3.9 percent to C$4.05.

Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI CN): The news and data company formed by Thomson Corp.'s purchase of Reuters Group Plc was barred by a district judge in New York from using its Reuters Messaging technology, after failing to exercise an option. The shares rose 0.7 percent to C$32.40.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Kipphoff in Montreal at jkipphoff@bloomberg.net.