Investment Q&A

Q: Lots of questions about this one.

One argument I've heard for why the stock isn't up on the dividend news is that the dividend isn't tax efficient for US holders, who evidently own about 40% of ECN float. That coupled with the embedded gains and worry about taxes increasing has them selling now, and the CDN demand for those shares being sold isn't enough to push the stock price higher.

If this is true, it may limit the near term opportunities even after the dividend if Americans feel burned that they didn't get a good deal out of a great deal made by ECN.

That all said, I've added to my already large position due largely to management and they're proven abilities.

My 2 cents, curious what you think.

Cam

Q: Hi 5i,

Would you sell DND for ECN today for a 1 - 2 year hold?

Q: Good Afternoon:
Further to Allen's question on the company's valuation post $7.50 dividend, does the market's then valuation of $2.60 per share accurately or fairly value the remaining divisions of the company considering their recent performance and that some debt may be repaid?
In that context, what factors in your mind exist or what positioning or news releases can the company make to mitigate the share price dropping by the amount of the dividend.
Lastly, aside from the direction of the general market in the last week or so, do you see the recent drop in share price as over reaction?
Thank you!
Ian

Q: Since the special dividend announcement of $7.50,ECN has dropped to $10.10.Does this mean the market only values the stock at $2.60, post dividend?

Q: Is buying ECN shares considered “dividend shopping” in light of the $7.50 special dividend announced recently.If I remember from the answers to the questions on ECN, 5i mentioned that the stock may drop by $7.50 ex-dividend. If that is the case, although not guaranteed, why would anymore consider buying ECN shares other than for the special dividend and unloading the shares a few days after unless 5i believes that the stock has some growth potential groins forward. Thank you for shedding light on this matter.

Q: I would like to add a few (2-4) financial companies to my non-registered investment portfolio. Would appreciate 5i's help in ranking the above names based on total return potential for a 3-5 year hold. Please add any names you feel belong to the lineup, ranked appropriately, Thank you.

Q: I have a hypothetical question regarding the $7,50 distribution that will take place later this year. Assume that I bought the shares at $10 and that the distribution was a return of capital. The ROC would reduce my cost base by $7,50 to $2.50. So if the market price of the shares dropped by $7.50 to $2.50 and I sold the shares at that price I would not have any gain or loss on the sale. Apparently, if my logic is correct, I would be pocketing the $7.50 with no tax consequences. Am I missing something? Or is this the logic that would preclude this distribution from being considered a return of capital?

Q: Hi 5i team,

Between BNS and ECN, which one would you prefer to own for better chance of share price appreciation for the next 3 years? I already have TD, SLF and GSY. Thanks.

Q: Hi there, I’ve held ECN ever since it was spun off from EFN and added to it along the way. I’ve read your comments that the stock could fall by 7.50 when the special dividend goes ex-div. So if it’s trading at 10.50 approx now and assuming it’s around same level at ex-div it’d fall to 3.00 which is close to my cost. How should proceed ie should I sell it now or buy more? Thanks
I just asked a question on ECN and whether I should buy more or sell due to probability stock may drop at the 7.50 ex-div date. So if I don’t sell and receive the 7.50/share and since I am DRIP’ing would I receive the DRIP shares based on 2.50 per share?

Q: I hold ECN and ECN.PR.A in a registered account. After reading recent comments I am considering selling the preferred shares to buy more of the common. Would you endorse this move? I also have a small preferred position in a taxable account with a 55% gain. I expect you would advise holding in this case. Is that correct? Thanks as always for your exceptional service.

Q: In your answer to Colin's questions about ECN on Aug 12th, your answer included this statement - "The sold division was the fastest growing, by far".

I had a look at the quarterly financials just released on Sedar, and in the notes to the financials there is the segmented information, and in there it shows the current Q2 and last year's Q2. The revenue for the sold division was up by 42.9% year over year, and for the 2 remaining divisions, Triad had revenue growth of 72.5% and KG had 30.6% growth. It looks to me like there is excellent growth in the 2 remaining divisions. Am I missing something?

It seems to me there is a very substantial, rapidly growing business remaining after the sale of the Home Improvement Loans division, and in the BNN interview with Steve Hudson he was very optimistic about the future growth of the 2 remaining divisions.

Q: I wanted to ask about one more point on the ECN division sale. Assuming the deal close they are getting 2B US$. Only 1.5B of that is being used to pay out 7.50 CAD per share. This means there is 500M US (about $2.50 CAD per share) being added to the company. So at current price of 10.65 the other half of the company is being valued at 65 cents. Is this correct?

Q: Hi 5i team,
Re ECN, which is in the ‘growth portfolio’, is the special dividend of $7.50 per share only payable to shareholders which are on the book as of Aug 10, 2021? Shares purchased after Aug 10 would not be entitled to this special dividend? Thanks.

Q: What is the reasonable counter-argument to using my 10% cash holding to buy ECN for the special dividend? It's a good company so I'm fine holding after to ride out any market volatility, and it doesn't seem to have any especially severe company risk compared to peers...

Q: i do not ask many questions, i am a seasoned investor but ecn has me stumped.
hudson did an amazing deal-will close within 4.5 months from now and payout 7.50 a share to shareholders-the stock should be at 15-16, i saw the interview with hudson on bnn -he is a shrewd as they come-he said they will only do tuck in acquisitions for now because prices are to high.the market is valuing ecn like after deal closes the stock is worth 2.50 -is this the greatest opportunity to buy this stock or am i just wrong. dave

Q: Hi 5i,

I own the Preferred shares of ECN. They have just sold a major part of the business and are going to pay a special $7.50 dividend to the common shareholders. The way I see it, are they not taking away a lot of the security of the preferred shareholders by paying such a large common share dividend? Do the preferred shareholders have a voice in this matter? Can the company just dividend out everything leaving the preferred shareholders holding a worthless piece of paper?

Your thoughts on this are appreciated.

Q: A follow up question to your earlier response. If the company is paying such a high special dividend does that mean that Mr Hudson and the board did see better uses for the proceeds? After the sale the company will be much smaller, slower growing (from what I can tell but I may be wrong) and without the cash available to grow meaningfully by acquisition. Do you think this is the start of the end game for ECN where the rest of the company eventually gets sold?

Q: I am sure you are tired of ECN questions by now, but I have to ask;)

Do you have a good way to evaluate what the leftover divisions of ECN will be worth on a per share basis?

I assume one can't simply equate the amount of revenue left over.

I am not skilled enough to figure that out, but I am sure someone is.

Is there a bit of a disconnect here or are the left over segments only worth ~$3.5 a share.

As always, thanks for the great service.

Q: I'm thinking that I want to remain invested in ECN because I like how they think and their results. I'm thinking of buying more shares in the coming days which ended the day barely up from the day before and I expect it will not fall the full $7.50 when it goes ex-dividend which would give me the post-dividend shares at a cheaper price than buying later. I would do this in my RIF and TFSA so there is no resulting tax. What do you think of this idea?

Q: Could you enlighten me about just why ECN is selling off a big chunk of their business and then paying a special dividend to shareholders? From what I can see and what you've said so far it will go from a $2.5 billion dollar company to a half billion dollar company. It will pay us $7.50 a share in a special dividend, but then the value of the shares we hold will likely drop by the same amount, if not more, since larger investors will probably abandon the newly shrunk company. So where is the benefit for shareholders in this action?