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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: HI Peter,
I have small positions in the three companies: ECI, ALA, and ACQ. I would like to reduce my holdings to two. I am looking for income and capital appreciation. I was thinking of selling Enercare and putting the proceeds to Altagas and leaving ACQ the way it is. Please advise. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by umedali on October 24, 2016
Q: I'd appreciate your opinion/suggestions on a few companies that a GARP (Growth At Reasonable Price) style investor should find particularly attractive currently - ignoring sector diversification.

Thank you
Read Answer Asked by John on September 26, 2016
Q: My dad has had 70% of his portfolio in bonds. He is satisfied with a 6% capital return per year, prefers companies with a 10y history, and rarely looks at his holdings. In Canada, he owns a fund plus AW, PZA, REI.un, BPY, CAR.un, HR.un, BNS, SLF, BCE, T and the etf ZPR. All are in the green. Last week, he bought a small amount of Concordia. He wants to buy two more "blood on the street" stocks that pay > 2% dividend, have little chance of going bankrupt, and that have a good chance of doubling over 7 years. what would you suggest? I'm thinking AutoCanada and Cameco. Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Matt on May 16, 2016
Q: Hi there,
The share price of auto Canada is acting better and the street seemed to like their earnings/dividend cut. Would auto Canada see increased business with the tragedy in Fort McMurray? When looking photo's of the damage I see a lot of destroyed cars. With roughly half there dealerships in Alberta do you think there will be a meaningful benefit for acq? Do you think it is a buy at this time or has it gotten ahead of itself?
Thank you,
Kerri
Read Answer Asked by KERRI on May 10, 2016
Q: There's talk today that investors are starting to switch from growth investing to value investing. Can you give 5 names of small to mid cap Canadian companies that you would consider a value company to start my research.

Thanks for the great service.
Read Answer Asked by Rob on April 25, 2016
Q: I didn't think I would ever want to buy into auto retailing but you make a compeliing case for the company. Two followup questions. First, how much should be made of Mr. Landry being hired? It would seem to be quite a coup to retain the former head of Chrysler Canada to run what is a much smaller business. Do you know Mr. Landry? I don't mean this to sound mean spirited or indelicate but do you think this is a case of him needing a job or do you think he sees this a fabulous opportunity?

Second, you note parts and service account for 13% of revenues but what percentage of profits do they account for and is that number within or greater than industry norms? I would think that the greatest impact ACQ could have on a dealership is how this area is run. I am assuming that owning several dealerships would lead to greater buying power (thereby lowering costs) for certain parts (not OEM) like tires, wipers and consumables, lower advertising costs ect. in addition to providing state of the art management and IT infrastructure. However, given that they own various name plates, I assume their ability to improve margins via volume purchasing on new car sales would be minimal.

Appreciate your insight and again, apologies to Mr. Landry.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on April 13, 2016
Q: Question: I own too many positions . Some were income plays , many were from my days as a "big shot" oil investor , others were lost causes .. . Ignoring sector balancing ( I have been trying ) , which stocks should I heave ?
Your portfolios have been very helpful in rescuing me from my previous ways ... thank you
Consumer - AW.UN /ADW.A/ATD.B./CCL.B/CGX/MG/ PBH/HLF/KEG.UN/L/MG/PZA/AYA/ECI/DOL/GIL/ACQ
Financial - BNS/RY/CXI/EFN/IGM/HCG/
Healthcare - PHM/
Industrial - AFN/ RUS/WSP/SIS/WEF/CFP/XTC/MDA/BAM.A
Materials - SJ/
Energy - ALA/BEP.UN/CPG/ECA/PPY/TOU/WCP/BDI/SGY/FRU/VET/ IMO/ PSK /FRU
Tech - CSU/GIB.A/DH/ESL/SYZ/DH/DSG /
Telecom - T/BCE
Utility - ENB/
REIT - AX.UN/CSH.UN/CUF.UN/DRG.UN/D.UN/SRU.UN/
Read Answer Asked by Thomas on April 11, 2016
Q: ACQ announced results at market close yesterday Same store results were ugly:
Same store revenue decreased by 5.9% in 2015, compared to 2014. Same store gross profit decreased by 11.7% in 2015, compared to 2014.

Free cash flow decreased to $38.7 million in 2015 or $1.57 per share as compared to $63.7 million or $2.70 per share in 2014.

Adjusted free cash flow decreased to $38.8 million in 2015 or $1.59 per share as compared to $62.1 million or $2.67 per share in 2014.

Same store new vehicle retail revenue decreased by 14.2%, or $119.7 million, to $722.0 million in 2015 from $841.7 million in 2014.

Same store used vehicle retail revenue increased by 10.4%, or $27.5 million, to $292.3 million in 2015 from $264.8 million in 2014.

On a more Same store parts, service and collision repair revenue increased by 2.8%, or $4.9 million, to $177.3 million in 2015 from $172.4 million in 2014.

Pre market bid/ask looks weak. Is this a buying opportunity? or a time to run. or hold tight?
Read Answer Asked by Douglas on March 18, 2016
Q: Do you think their dividend will remain intact? Looking back at 2008/09 BMO says they lost over $4 per share and the dividend was cut substantially. Was what happened then likely to occur again,(I didn't follow ACQ back then so maybe the company has changed dramatically?...) given BNN just ran an article about household debt levels and the fact that oil is becoming insanely low? I know management said the dividend would remain the same, but you can't really trust that, because if they were to say anything else people would have started to panic and sell immediately, and they still needed to raise capital after the last earnings report. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Bryan on December 15, 2015
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