As June nears its end, investors are looking forward to fresh quarterly financial reports and six-month stock evaluations to gauge how companies have performed halfway through 2021 amid COVID-19.

With the Canadian government stepping up measures to expand its vaccine rollout, stocks from most sectors are likely to see an improvement in their growth trajectory.

Among them, some market leaders are likely to remain hot investments amid the improving environment. Let’s look at some such stocks.

Lightspeed POS Inc. (TSX: LSPD)

Technology sector player Lightspeed POS offers software solutions to commerce platforms for their transactions, engaging with customers and managing operations. It is one of the top performing players among tech companies listed on the TSX. Lightspeed operates in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and other geographies, with the maximum revenue flowing from US.

Lightspeed stock returned over 16 per cent in the last one month, closing at C$ 104.39 on June 24, 2021.

Lightspeed’s revenues rose 127 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in the first quarter ending March 31, 2021, to touch US$ 82.4 million. This rise came on the back of robust growth in organic demand and business acquisitions, including Upserve and ShopKeep.

This revenue growth had a 91 per cent component of subscription and transaction-based sales. Its customer locations also rose about 56 per cent YoY.

Senvest Capital Inc. (TSX:SEC) (No dividend info on TSX)

Senvest Capital is one the market leaders in the Canadian financial services industry. It manages equities and real estate portfolio for its clients primarily located in the US. Apart from this, it extends its services to two funds with institutions and high net worth individuals as their target audience.

The financial services company has a market capitalization of C$ 972 million as per TSX, with about 2.5 million outstanding shares. It is a top financial services company on the TSX, as it returned about 25 per cent in the last one month.

As the US and Canada pedal to regain their footing from the pandemic lows, the Canada-based player may see further growth in its performance on the back of an improving investment sentiment. Recovery in the US economy augurs well for the company as its customer base is concentrated in the country.

Senvest Capital has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 0.90, and a price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 0.592.

The company reported a multifold jump in its net income for the first quarter of 2021, as the number expanded to C$ 574.5 million as against a net loss reported in Q1 2020.

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Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSX:CNQ)

Capturing the buzz in the Canadian energy sector as demand for natural gas and oil-based products rises, this energy stock can be explored by oil sector investors in Canada.

The company’s 2020 oil production was about 1.16 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. With about 11.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of crude and natural gas reserves.

Canadian Natural Resources recorded a 30-day trading volume of about 14.2 million. The 53.2-billion market cap company’s current dividend yield is 4.146 per cent. It announced a quarterly dividend of C$ 0.47, which will be distributed on July 5, 2021.

Its Q1 2021 saw net earnings of jump to approximately C$1.4 billion, as against a net loss reported in the same period last year.

Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation (TSX:BIPC)

Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation is among the top utilities performers on the TSX. Its stock jumped 7.6 per cent in the last 30 days.

The large-cap utilities company has a C$ 4.02-billion market capitalization, with approximately 45 million outstanding shares. (as of June 24)

Moving in line with the sectoral index, the stock grew 2.2 per cent in the year-to-date period (YTD), while the S&P/TSX Capped Utility Index rose 2.8 per cent in the same period.

The company owns and operates regulated utility investments in UK and Brazil. While regulated gas transmission operations generate maximum revenues for the company, it also operates utilities, transport, energy and data infrastructure businesses in some geographies. However, Brazil is its key revenue generating location.

Brookfield saw a roughly 37 per cent YoY jump in its net income earned during the first quarter of 2021.

While its utilities segment revenue remained the highest across segments, the midstream exploration segment saw a nearly two-fold jump in funds from operations, which touched US$ 146 million in Q1.

The company pays quarterly dividends of C$ 0.51 a share, set to be distributed by June 30, 2021. It has a 2.754 percent dividend yield.

Canadian Tire Corporation Limited (TSX:CTC)

One of Canada’s major general merchandise retail store franchise, Canadian Tire eyes a sharp growth uptick in its offline store sales as restrictions loosen amid ramped-up vaccine rollout.

The C$ 15.2-billion market cap enterprise, which has a moderate P/B ratio of 3.32, is likely to be maintained going forward.

CTC stock rose by about 66 per cent in the last one year, outperforming TSE 300 Composite Index that climbed 26 per cent in the same period.

It currently has a dividend yield of 1.774 per cent, paying C$ 1.175 as quarterly dividend per share. It is payable on September 1, 2021.

The stock offers C$ 11.26 earnings per share, and 22.30 per cent return on equity.

The above constitutes a preliminary view and any interest in stocks should be evaluated further from investment point of view.