Investment Q&A

Q: In numerous questions you always give a preference to PPL over IPL. Could you please explain your rationale for this ? Thanks. Joe

Q: 10:34 AM 11/7/2018
In this morning's answer to Grant you said ; "TRP debt is about 7X cash flow; PPL about 3.5%.[I presume you meant 3.5X].

In any event when I look at the Companies search pages for these companies which metrics should I look at to find out the level of debt for each. I see no numbers that might correspond to 7X for TRP or 3.5X for PPL.

Thanks........... Paul K

Q: I am considering a purchase of either TRP or PPL, with dividend and stock price stability being more important than growth. Which do you prefer, and please also comment on the payout, debt levels, and exposure to the oilsands.
Thanks, Grant

Q: Hi,
Thanks always for your advice, it's been very helpful.
Part of my investing strategy is to hold company shares (where possible) in AST or Computershare so I can use the dripping programs for the tax break. I am down drastically with CJR.B - should I sell and move on? Also, I hold ENB, NTR and PPL all of which have suspended their drip programs. Are they worth holding, so I can do something with the cash dividends or should I move on from them. All of my moving on would be to purchase other companies that drip.
thanks
michele

Q: I want to take my huge loss in my rrsp on Altagas and move on. You mentioned there are better names in the sector. I already have a 3 percent position in Algonquin power. Which companies have better upside.

Q: would you buy any of these pipeline? and which ones for which reason?

Q: Question about preferred shares in general.
I will use a Pembina preferred as an example. PPL.PR.I issued March 31, 2015.
Rate reset date is December 1, 2020.
Issued at 4.75% - therefore initially issued at 3.91% + .85%.
Currently the 5 year government bond yield rate is 2.36% (I'm getting this from iTrade and to reset Pembina will use Bloomberg GCAN5YR. I'm assuming they are the same or close).
Therefore the reset rate will be 6.27% (3.91% + 2.36%).
I am assuming that Pembina will either reset the rate or redeem the preferred at $25.00 on December 1, 2020.
Two questions:
1. Is there anything else they can do other than reset or redeem?
2. If they can only do a reset or redeem then why has the stock decreased in value from above $25.00 to $24.25 this past week? I would have thought with the pending increased reset rate or redemption the preferred would be holding its value.
Am I totally missing something here?
Thanks so much.

Q: I have 5% in this stock in mine and my grandkids.Your comments please.

Q: I need help to clean up and high grade my energy stocks. I have the following in the energy sector: ENB, IPL, PPL, SCL, SGY, TOU and WCP (all were acquired between 2011 and 2014), and I would like to reduce the number of positions. I have not added to the energy sector since Q3 2014.

Energy makes up 8% of my entire portfolio (DCPP, mutual funds, and a stock portfolio managed by me – the 7 stocks referred to above). I have been very patient, but my patience is running out with some of these stocks. Some days I feel like selling the losers and investing in another sector, other days I feel like averaging down on some of the losers (it’s been 4 years since I added to the sector).

I am up 50% on PPL, so plan to keep it. Breakeven on IPL and ENB. Down 33% on WCP, and down >50% on SCL, SGY and TOU. Not including dividends.

I am considering adding VET as it seems to be better quality (recommended by 5i and others), but I don’t want to have too much overlap with the other stocks, nor do I want to increase the number of stocks in my portfolio.

Assuming that I keep the same overall energy weighting, how would you high grade this portfolio. I am open to other energy companies, the only criteria is that it pays a dividend.

Thanks,

Paul

Q: Hello, I am a young retiree in my sixties I have a portfolio focused on growth while promoting dividends. I would like to add to the titles mentioned so that they reach 5% of the portfolio. Could you place them in order of preference according to these criteria with a horizon of 3 to 5 years. Feel free to suggest reducing or eliminate any of them to free some cash to add to others. Thank you

Q: Strictly for income and safety purpose how they compare,i'm 74
Thank You
Dan

Q: I recently purchased these interest sensitive stocks with the idea of obtaining good dividend paying companies at a reasonable valuation. Each are a 3% weighting. Too much in this sector? If rates continue to rise, can these companies pass on any increase? Are these companies OK if there is a gradual increase in interest rates or should the sector be avoided?

Thanks
Dave.

Q: I have both of these in my TFSA and am considering selling LNR and buying more PPL. LNR has tanked 16% since I bought it and PPL is up a little and has good dividends. I’m looking for dividend income and some growth over the next 5 years. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. TIA

Q: Gentlemen, Good Day.
I own PPL, TRP & ENB.
Is it a good idea to sell PPL & buy SU for more growth.
Please your thoughts ?
Thanks
Best regards

Q: Now ppl has not gone down at all. Would you switch to something like Endbridge or another utility that has gone down 25% or just sell it before it goes down 25%

Q: I have small position in TRP and want to add more. I want dividend income and was thinking of selling it and substituting PPL or IPL for better dividends. Would you add to TRP or sell and buy one of the others instead?
Many thanks,
Jen

Q: I will be retiring at the end of the year.
My theory is that inflation is about to rise at a quicker rate than it has recently.
The listed securities are in my portfolio and are hurt by rising interest rates.
Which ones would you suggest that I lighten up on.
Which ones would be a hold.

Q: Hi 5I,
With a zero weight I am considering a possible two of the three mentioned companies as new income generating positions.
Two part question - (1) which are most suitable for more stable income (& why) and (2) considering the interest rate environment, would this be less than ideal timing to start new these as new positions

Thanks again
Mike

Q: I am interested is some dividend stock and wonder how you feel about IPL . Any other ideas in this category?

Q: With the current difficulties with pipeline development and the negative view of oil sands, how do you view the risk profile of the pipeline business in general and would you rate the risk differently for these three companies?