Investment Q&A

Q: I am looking to crystallize gains in PPL, and seeking an alternative in the pipeline/utility sector. I currently own ENB and TRP as well as FTS. What do you recommend for diversification in combination with those three?

Q: I have nice paper capital gains in ZRE,FTS and T and the MacD is telling me to sell all 3 securities. I don't want to stand by and watch the paper profit disappear although I am getting a nice yield. What is the proper way to manage this situation? Thank you

Q: All things considered, which is the "better" buy at this point ENB or FTS. Does the share price rise in ENB make FTS the better opportunity? I realize there is integration risk with acquisitions for both.
Also, is Loblaw a pretty good "buy" with today's drop?
Thank you.

Q: Thank you for the response re: Fortis,Enbridge and Emera. Would you please elaborate on the guidelines specified in the question for each? I should have been more specific in my question. Please deduct a question from my holdings. Thank you.

Q: I have zero exposure to utilities at the present time. I believe that you advocate having exposure to all sectors of the market because you never can know for certain what the market will do. While most people expect interest rates to rise and utilities to under perform, the same could have been said in 2013. Which is your favourite utility and which utility offers the best dividend growth to potentially offset future interest rate increases. I am looking for low volatility, good dividend yield and good dividend growth.

Thank you,
Jason

Q: Since this stock has gone up a lot, is it time to move to another stock in the sector like AQN or FTS?

Thanks

Dave.

Q: Good morning Peter, Ryan, and Team,

Apparently Enron has reared its ugly head once again. This article from the Globe and Mail describes a lawsuit announced by the Alberta government:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/e-mails-reveal-how-albertas-enron-clause-was-orchestrated/article31303953/

From the article, "The court action names Enmax; TransCanada; and Capital Power. It also names electricity generator Atco Ltd., the Balancing Pool, which is a public body, and its own power regulator as defendants. The court case is slated for November."

Enmax isn't a publicly traded company, but the other two are. (I don't own either). Are there any other companies that may be impacted from the fallout that will occur from this lawsuit? I'm thinking of AQN and FTS as examples.

As always, thanks for your insight.

Q: What are your thoughts on the earnings of the above companies - Emera just bumped up their dividend by 10% and results looked good. Results were good for Fortis and Enercare also. All 3 have exposure to US.

I currently hold Enercare and am looking to add more weight for long term (20+ years) to utilities. Any recommendations ?

Q: Would you take profit now, as FTS is close to a 52 week high, or just hold for the dividend? Has never seemed to be a growth stock up until recently. About 7% of my current portfolio.

Q: I intend to take some money out of a savings account and put it into 3 or 4 rock solid (what a concept) TSX stocks earning divis
in the 3 - 5% range and looking at a 2 - 3 yr horizon. Would really like to see a list of stocks (with ratings) that you think would meet my requirement. Thanks again.

Q: Sorry for resubmitting the same question again. It seems that I am doing something wrong. Just realized that the name of the Company didn't appear on my last submission, so I am putting the company name and the symbol in the text, (Capstone Mining CSE.PR.A). My original question was sent two days ago, and probably did the same mistake.

I am in dilemma in choosing between the offer to convert series A to a fixed reset for five years at 3.271%, to convert to the floating rate preferred, initial quarterly rate 3.204% or to just take my losses and sell. What would you suggest, how safe is the dividends on this prefered now it is in the hands of the new company that bought Capstone and considering that the rate of return of over 6% based on current price? What would be a good replacement if income requirement isn't important and would rather have some growth and less dividend?

Thanks.

Q: Hi, I'm replacing Prism Medical. What are your top 3 choices in this sector for income?

Would you consider AD as a health stock? It seems to have an interest in the medical field in Canada and the US.

Thanks

Q: 9:53 AM 6/29/2016

Hello Peter:

Today you made this distinction between "Safe" and "Secure" dividends in your answer to Grant asking about Superior Plus : "We would consider the dividend 'secure'. 'Safe' is a different category completely".

1. I am looking to concentrate on companies whose dividends you consider to be in the "safe" category, and which yield over 3.5% as these should/must be at least the main core of any pensioner's holdings for reliable income. This can be confusing to sort out since I presume that you will not consider all banks, utilities, telcos, REITS, Pipelines, etc. qualify as "safe".

2. So if you could sort out a short list of the few that qualify for the "Safe Dividend" category it would be most appreciated. I do understand that disasters do occasionally happen, and any company no matter how safe can get into trouble.

2. This brings up the problem of portfolio concentration caused by owning only a few names or sectors. Is it better or "ok" to just own a portfolio of only "Safe" dividend stocks, or are we advised to dilute the quality of our portfolios and own some less safe dividend stocks to supposedly "diversify" risk? This harks back to the people whose portfolio consists of only the big five Canadian Banks and who have done brilliantly for the past 50 years!

Your considered opinion on this issue will be most appreciated........ Paul K.

Q: I am looking at these 4 stocks for a combination of growth and income. Do you see any problem with these or do you have a better suggestion? Also, do you feel now is a good time to buy or would it be better to wait until summer is over?

Q: What is your view on the earning release of Northland Power? It is about 2% in my portfolio (30% gain) in my TFSA. According to the recent earning release of both Northland Power and Fortis, is FTS a better stock in the long run. I have BEP.UN and AQN. Please give me some guidance. Thanks

Q: I'm always looking for good quality dividend companies (4-6%) with some growth potential. I'm currently at about 85-90+ % dividend companies with 10-15% that have more growth potential and little or no dividends. Can you direct me to the best source/list of the companies you sometimes refer to like Fortis that have never reduced their dividend. I believe they are referred to as the 'Dividend Titans"??

Q: Please comment on FTS latest earning release. Thanks

Q: What would you recommend as fixed income alternative?
Thanks
Jean

Q: We have 2 Rrsp accounts. The first one contains mostly 5i recommendations with a focus on dividend income and some growth. We would like to structure the second account to be more conservative and withdraw the dividend income. We like the Canadian banks ie RY and BNS as the dividend is safe and pays well and even when there is a sell off in the banks (including 2009) they eventually bounce back thus preserving capital but in the meantime one just collects the dividend. i know you would say that we should diversify so my question to you is what other stocks would you suggest that pay a 4percent dividend and have the security of the banks over the mid to long term or until Interest rates increase to make GICs/bonds an option.
Thank you.
M

Q: Hi, 5i.

For pure utilities, I have BEP (2.0%) and RNW (1.5%). I also have ENB (2.0%) and IPL (1.0%) if you consider those utilities.

I'm looking to increase my utilities allocation and wondering if I should add to what I have or take a position in Fortis (or another name you recommend).

Thank you,
Robert