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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: Sorry, one follow up on my initial question earlier today.

Did you find it odd that NWC has halted before their earnings? I am guessing the stock was halted because of the significant beat? However, in the q1 report, there was zero reference to the halt or to the big beat that you normally see when a company significantly outperforms eps expectation (example: xyz company reports record Q1 eps...)

It probably doesn't mean anything either way. I just thought that was a little unusual.

Thanks.

John
Read Answer Asked by john on June 10, 2021
Q: TD Waterhouse are opining today (in advance of NWC's Jun 9 quarterly reporting) that the "quarter is expected to be the last strong quarter before EBITDA turns negative".
What information if any have you to support or refute this statement?
What are your thoughts on whether to hold or sell NWC going forward?
If sell, what replacement recommendations have you?
Dividend-focused investor, with NWC & PBH in consumer staples, and LNF, MG & CTC in consumer discretionary.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Read Answer Asked by Lotar on June 07, 2021
Q: Non-registered account with goal of primarily dividend income has done quite well, with all of the noted holdings nicely in positive territory. In hind sight MG and SYZ would have been in a registered account. SYZ is up 63%, MG 24%.
Overall account yield is currently 3.8%. Would prefer it closer to 5%
Need some help with this "good problem". Take capital gain now and move into yieldier positions, or let running stocks run and deal with bigger gain in future?
If I move out of some of the growthier stocks, which div payers minimum 3% yield to move into?
Overall portfolio diversification is pretty decent, and diversification within this account does not have to be perfect - dividend security within this account is more important.

Thanks,
Jim
Read Answer Asked by Jim on May 04, 2021
Q: Hi guys.

What are your thoughts on North West Company's earnings, today?
They beat earnings but announced the CEO is leaving. They also announced "earnings in 2021 will be meaningfully above pre-Pandemic (2019) levels but likely below 2020". I think this was already baked into the bake as consensus 2021 eps estimates is 20% lower than 2020.

Your insights are always appreciated.

John
Read Answer Asked by john on April 08, 2021
Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I own the following Cons Staples = NWC, PBH, PLC, as well as I am building a Cons Discretionary position in Leon's.

I am looking for another Disc stock. I remember seeing a related question on this a few days ago, but couldn't find it. What are your favorites right now for me to do further research on? I must admit I lean towards value stocks, as I have difficulty in buying something that has already had a good run.

Could you give me 3 Discretionary names on the conservative side and 3 on the more aggressive side...no speculative names. If we can't find a suitable Discretionary stock, I might add another Staple name, like possibly ADW (it is listed as a Staple, which is absolutely true in our household, but it could be Discretionary...compared with food). Could you therefore give me 3 Staple names that might fit well with my existing Consumer holdings? So, I need 9 names, if possible. The cash available is in my TFSA, so while a dividend is nice it is not imperative.

Thanks for your help...much appreciated...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on April 01, 2021
Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. A question earlier today has motivated me to finally ask this question....been thinking of it for quite a while. It had to do with potential rising interest rates and your response was that dividend investors should be prepared for a bumpy ride in the short term (my paraphrase of your answer).

I own the above securities and for the most part trim-add around core positions that I hold for the long term. Is it possible to divide the above securities into two camps....one that would be "ok" in a rising interest rate environment and the other that I should consider trimming a bit or maybe selling? I am ok riding things out for the long term and do not normally react to short term volatility.

Thanks for your help....Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on March 20, 2021
Q: I am looking to add new position in the C.Non Cycl. sector. My lean is to the balanced and income portfolios. How would you rank the above and which companies represent the best buying opportunity now( or is now not the time for this sector) and why?
Thanks,
Mike
Read Answer Asked by Mike on March 09, 2021
Q: good afternoon

i have positions in both PBH and NWC. PBH is growing slowly but steadily and NWC has been basically flat, albeit with a decent dividend. What would you say to selling NWC ( no gain) and reinvesting the proceeds in PBH? I have long horizons. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by alex on February 10, 2021
Q: I own bce in my rrsp account. I know it has a good dividend but the stock has been flat for the last few years. I was wondering if you could recommend another dividend stock that was relatively safe but would have a bit more growth potential.
Read Answer Asked by scott on February 02, 2021
Q: I am looking at putting together a portfolio of set-&-forget Canadian dividend-paying stocks, in what will be my only unregistered account, making up about 30% of our overall portfolio. The registered accounts (70% of portfolio) are now all in mixes of VGRO, VBAL and XAW.
My emphasis is on stable large cap companies, with a sprinkling of smaller cap, low beta, decent and growing dividends. I expect to draw down the capital at 6 - 7% per year (in addition to the dividends). Beyond the drawdown, capital preservation is secondary to the income.
What are your thoughts on the following mix? Additions/deletions?
Communication: BCE, T
Consumer Discretionary: CTC.A, LNF
Consumer Staples: NWC, PBH
Financials: BNS, TD, SLF
Industrials: SIS
Materials: SJ
Real Estate: CRT.UN
Energy & Utilities: ENB, AQN, FTS, ACO.X, BEP.UN (or BEPC)
My other thought is 100% CDZ but I'm not very impressed with the historical returns and the (relatively) high MER.
Thanks. Lotar.
Read Answer Asked by Lotar on January 26, 2021
Q: I am looking to "trim the fat" from my TFSA, which currently holds 20 stocks: ATD, BCE, BMO, BNS, CCO, CM, ENB, FFH, PDYPF, INO.UN, LAS, NXE, NWC, NA, NTR, PEY, PZA, MJJ, TRP, WELL. Are there any positions that raise red flags with you? In addition, could you suggest 3 or 4 value picks suitable for a long-term hold (20 years plus)?
Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Sarah on January 14, 2021
Q: 50-yr old investing for retirement. Have historically been a dividend fiend but open to juicing the growth side a bit more as a result of the excellent advice I can now obtain from 5i. Considering adding to either my consumer defensive/staples allocation or increasing international exposure (the latter via an ETF). Hoping you might help me deploy a half position in an RSP and jump in one direction from a corner of the fence (and understanding you can't personalize such advice) - considering initiating a position in NWC (CA), PBH (CA), or WMT (US) or adding to an existing position in ZWE (European covered call ETF). My current geographical exposure is 34% US; 33% CA; and 32% International (XEF, ZDI and ZWE). My total covered call ETF exposure is around 8% of my equity portion and geographically diversified. Other suggestions for staples and international ETFs will be appreciated. Thanks for the great service!
Read Answer Asked by Mark on January 12, 2021
Q: Hi 5i,
This may well be 4 questions, so please deduct points accordingly.
Portfolio Analytics indicates that I'm underweight in Communications Services, Consumer Defensive, Industrials and Consumer Cyclical, and I'd like to top up these sectors.
I try to be a balanced investor and like income, but I don't mind taking on more risk and little or no income on something with a solid premise. Especially right now I'm looking for companies that are poised to benefit from the return to (more or less) normal life that 2021 might bring.
My present Communications Services weight all comes from the following ETFs - TXF, ZDI, DISC and ZWU. Can you provide a few Canadian equities to look at in this sector at this time, other than the big four?
My present Consumer Defensive weight comes mostly from NWC, with a smidgeon from ETFs like ZFI and DISC. Are there two or three Canadian equities in this sector you'd currently recommend looking at?
My present Industrials weight is in FTG (which I'd be happy to sell unless you think it has the potential for recovery in the coming year), QST and XBC. Are there another two or three Canadian names you presently favor in this sector?
And finally, my only Consumer Cyclical other than whatever might be in the listed ETFs is NFI (although I'd have thought it would properly be classified as an Industrial). Again, could you recommend two or three Canadian equity names that might qualify as viable Consumer Cyclical holdings going forward?
Thanks a lot and Happy New Year!
Peter
Read Answer Asked by Peter on January 06, 2021
Q: Hello Folks:
What is your opinion of these companies:
Caterpillar, cummins, cosco, walmart
I currently own caterpillar, cummins and cosco. Cummins and cosco have turned out very well. while caterpillar has struggled. Do you think industrials have much upside?
I am interested in what consumer staple businesses or others you may recommend such as cosco, walmart, touche card etc. to see us through these strange times.
Thank you very much
brian
Read Answer Asked by Brian on October 07, 2020