Investment Q&A

Q: Could you give some idea of the size & significance of the new contract announced by XBC on June 22?
Thanks
Dave

Q: Can I get your take on canadian insurance companies in this market. Which one would you prefer and why? Would you start buying now or wait a bit till after the next rate hike? Thanks

Q: Why were CDN banks down 3%, today, Stress Test results for US banks also came strong. One damper, as I learned was Deutsche Bank down 11% in Europe Trading. Is there a contagion effect ? CDN Banks are now down 20% YTD. Should we worry ? Thanks

Q: Bam.a is now down 27%plus ytd.Are their any catalysts on the horizon ?What needs to happen to see something positive happen with this share price.

Q: Good Morning 5i Team,

I hold TOI, CTS, ENGH in one account as my small cap technology allocation. Price action of course has been brutal since last fall. Would you continue to hold all three names or would you recommend getting rid of one or more ?? Would you add to any ?? Do you have any alternatives that may have better risk / reward in an eventual tech recovery ?? Thanks very much for your help. DL

Q: Your last report for SJ was in June 2021 and it received an A- rating. Do you still see this stock in the same category as SLF? I read in the GAM that SJ is getting into less profitable regular lumber and investors don't like it. Value metrics look good with F P/E 9.6, P/S 0.77, EV/EBITA 8.10, however, by comparison WFG appears to me to have a much better valuation: F P/E 3.7, P/S 0.83 and EV/EBITA 1.56. WFG seems the clear choice today. Would appreciate your comments for a long term investment in SJ and/or WFG. Thanks!!

Q: In a recent question you answered that a switch from engh to syz is a good move today. Can you expand on that recommendation a bit more as SYZ doesn't appear to be a clear winner over ENGH.
1. The div is bigger but how secure based on the SYZ high payout ratio.
2. ENGH is bigger and would likely be less risky and equally benefit from the eventual stock market recovery
3. ENGH has historically been a highly rated company by 5i ( still showing as a rarified earth A-)

Unfortunately I hold ENGH in a registered account so cant justify the switch to harvest a loss. But I am wondering if it is time to move on...5 yr hold, hybrid balanced/income portfolio follower who has been slowly shifting from balanced to income. I do like high yield Canadian small caps although I find I am migrating more towards larger more stable names as I near retirement.

Q: Blackstone bought a position in May 2020 and paid book value for the shares. The stock is now trading at 87% of the book value. It would not surprise me if they are looking to buy out the company. In any event, the stock seems undervalued.

Q: I bought NVIDIA years ago and have been considering trimming as I’m overweight, and now want to take advantage of stocks that have recently dropped. I am a long term investor focused on growth with medium-high risk, what 3-4 stocks Canadian and U.S. do you recommend to help compliment my holdings? My US holdings are GOOG, COST, ISRG, V and my CAD tech holdings are CSU, TOI, KXS, and STC.

Q: I have held BNS for some time and wonder if it is still worth holding onto. I was considering a switch to National Bank. What would be your rationale supporting this switch? And, on the other hand , why would you not make this move?

Q: TCN has been absolutely crushed in this market. Do you continue to like the company?
If so why? Would now be a reasonable time to acquire shares or would it be better to continue sitting on the sidelines until we see some signs of interest rates stabilizing? And what is your sense as to when this might happen?

Q: I am considering selling Kinaxis in my TFSA and buying Descartes with the funds (I have significantly larger holdings of both companies in my investment accounts). Would you consider this a good investment decision?

Q: What’s your outlook for SAP and is it good candidate for a defensive hold over the summer months.Maybe any other suggestions in the space…
Thanks.

Q: Would you recommend holding REIT's or insurance companies such as IFC in a rising rate environment?

Q: In your answer to my previous question on SYZ you said that earnings are expected to decline in 2022 but grow at a faster rate in 2023 .... Can I assume that the Simply Wall Street link I referenced is incorrect in their claim that earnings will decline by 32.4% PER year for the next three years ? .... Which I would assume to be 2022, 2023, and 2024 ...... If this is true I'll likely avoid the stock so I want to verify it's accuracy ......

Q: I would like to have your view on Aecon in a recession environment.
How is the balance sheet compared to the company's debt.
Would you recommend buying the dip here

Q: Would you be able to give some thoughts on the recent price action of NTR? I had wanted to pick some up, but waited for a pull back. Got some under $130, saw it pull back some more and got some more at about $120. It's still dropping however, and I'm a bit perplexed as to why it is dropping. Thank you.

Q: Hi, kxs is around half from its high, I have about half position. Would you wait till the market settles on tech stocks, or are you confident enough on kxs that now would be a good time to buy more?
Thanks

Q: I hold WSP from 5i's Balance Portfolio and wonder if this stock is over priced in this market with a forward P/E of 22.8x (according to Koyfin). Just prior to COVID in January 2020, WSP traded around $96 and now it is about 40% more. Is WSP over priced in this market? What is their main focus on the consulting front?
Thanks!

Q: How do the pipelines make their income ? Is it a fixed toll on flow that increases with volume ? Is it dependant on the commodity price ? Does the route of the pipeline; ie: the scarcity of capacity of a given route matter ? Is this a good entry ? Are tight commodity supplies good or bad for pipelines ? Thank you.