Investment Q&A

Q: Sorry another comment that Members owning CRH may find comforting and certainly shows the clear difference between it and Valeant/Concordia:

"At March 31, 2017 , the Company had $9,232,240 in cash and cash equivalents compared to $9,507,004 at the end of 2016. The decrease in cash and equivalents is primarily a reflection of cash generated from operations, less cash used to finance acquisitions during the first quarter of 2017"


Looking at the Cash Flow Statement: they generated CF-Op of $8M and acquisition cost was $7.5M. Net Debt did go up ~$3M to fund some distribution to non-controlling interest (need to dig more into note 4 for details).


The main point through is CRH earns real cash and finances its acquisitions mainly from its cash flow and not from out of control debt - as the Motley Fool article was suggesting.

Q: Your analysis and thoughts on CRH's quarterly results?

Thanks!

Q: Does CRH report earnings before the open of markets, during the day, or at the end of the day after markets close.

Q: Since tere are few healt care companies in Canada wouldnt it be better to invest in XHC, if not what company would you suggest

Thanks

Q: So last night Motley Fool Canada took down their article from yesterday that was bashing CRH and comparing it to Valeant. Then the author releases a new version of the article that is actually promoting CRH for the most part. I did notice in the original article that they listed Motley Fool (US) as owning the stock which struck me as odd. I wondered why Motley Fool would bash a company, contributing to its decline while its parent company is long the stock. Feels like maybe the author got a big slap on the wrist and was forced to instantly retract the article? Very weird.Would there be any legal implications there, seems like manipulation. They are bashing a stock one day, and pumping it the next.Not that I had any respect for Motley Fool but I've defintitely lost the little I did have for their stock reports.

Q: The company is releasing earnings 2 months after the last release and not the usual 3 months. Is this a concern? Thank you.

Q: Being only a few days from earnings release. Wouldn't CRH management be in the blackout period? Releasing a short report when management potentially cannot respond (not sure about this), would that not technically be a violation of the CFA ethics code of conduct under market manipulation? Would this not trigger some kind of review by the CSC or another regulator for taking advantage of the inopportune timing?

Q: With CRH down drastically two days in a row on two short reports, management has not made a response which leads me to believe these reports are probably true which will result in a poor earnings report. Shouldn't they have responded. Your opinion please. Thanks

Q: Peter: ARZ has gone through a significant drop over the last few months. On the RBC website Morningstar has it as "undervalued". What is your view for the future of this stock?
Have a great day... Joe Zadel

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

Could you please comment below The Motley Fool's analysis about CRH.
"CRH made three acquisitions in 2016 for controlling interests of anesthesia companies with two of the acquisitions for 51% of the targets, and the third acquisition for approximately two-thirds of the business.
Because CRH now owns more than 50% of these companies, it is able to include 100% of the revenues and earnings from these firms on its balance sheet, boosting total earnings substantially while distributing only approximately half of the acquired value to shareholders.
On the bottom of the financial statements, we can see that net income “attributable to shareholders” was $10.6 million in 2016 and net income “attributable to non-controlling interests” was $5.5 million, meaning more than a third of the net income produced by CRH in 2016 is not attributable to shareholders of the company.
It is important to differentiate the two; looking at the financial statements from a high-level perspective, the numbers may seem impressive, and the growth rates often stated on press releases or in the media may make investors wonder why they didn’t pick this “growth gem;” however, the numbers used are clearly artificially inflated by more than one-third, and the overall indebtedness attributable to shareholders is more than one-third higher.
Shareholders who are not careful to take note of the adjustments may be disappointed when they understand that their overall equity as a percentage of the total company is actually shrinking.
The percentage of net income attributable to shareholders has been decreasing at an alarming rate due to the manner in which CRH is completing its acquisitions. As of Q4 2016, over 45% of the company’s quarterly net income was not attributable to shareholders, meaning in 2017 investors can expect to cut most of the numbers shown on the financial statements in half for the sake of accuracy."

Thanks

Q: How to catch a falling knife and when do you know it's hit the floor?

In your opinion, considering all the media, short attack pirates, and the massive volatility that have come to life so quickly. How would you play picking up CRH medical? I see technical levels at 7.99 for different measures as a resistance level. Or perhaps it would be prudent to spend time on the sidelines and watch this one. Or would it be best to watch the moves of institution buying as a sign of confidence for those who have done their homework vs. stop losses begetting further selling? I see this company as having a lot cleaner financials, so I don't feel too worried taking a small position at $8.00.

Q: I realize you guys have to be diplomatic, but the rationale that the shorts (different people in each case, by the way) were right on other stocks so they are probably right again is laughable. And it should be pointed out that just a month ago Motley Fool (not exactly the cream of the investment crop anyway) issued a very positive report on CRH.
http://www.fool.ca/2017/03/22/investors-forget-valeant-pharmaceuticals-intl-inc-check-out-crh-medical-corp-instead/

Thanks,

Alex

Q: I'm dowm 18%. Should I fold my hand on this?

Q: April 24/17 ? Asked by david:

Shorts right on cxr, vrx, any big loser:
All the above would have closed below their 200 day moving average at some point. Selling at that point would have eliminated any big loser.

Q: Can you elaborate on the nature of the continued selling. Are there any institutional blocks or is still primarily retail in your estimation? Thx

Q: the shorts were right on valeant, right on concordia, right on home capital, right on dh corp, maybe they are also right on crh medical, by the price action it certainly seems like they are right, just maybe you have this one wrong. please comment. dave

Q: Peter and Team: This is my first question since joining this august group, as I am still in learning mode and want to make sure my questions add value. However, I think this issue is important and I am truly perplexed. I note that yesterday, 80% of CRHM volume traded were short sales and on above average volume (source: shortvolume.com), which was highly unusual, and the price closes even. Then, the very next day on much greater volume still, the price plummets. Doesn't this strike one as extremely odd, temporally speaking, and especially, as you point out, that most of the trading seemed to be retail? What could be the possible explanations for this? I would really like to understand this one for future reference. On the surface, it would suggest to me that some folks must have information that others don't (earnings leak?), because I find it difficult to believe that the short report referred to earlier explains it all. Any and all thoughts would be most appreciated.

Q: Hello Peter, Ryan et al

I spoke with Kettina Cordero, IR Director for CRH regarding the volatility which she attributes to a letter from a hedge fund manage to his subscribers, however, my thinking was related to the release next week of "Unaudited" statements. She indicated that the CRH fundamentals have not changed and that it is fairly common that unaudited quarterly financials are not audited. Any thoughts?

Thank you .... Marty

Q: Hello Folks:
I have small positions in Gild and Gud and wondering which you prefer?
Thank You brian

Q: What are the expectations for earnings and sales for the Q ending 03/31? I understand they report after hours on April 26 with a conference call the following day