Investment Q&A

Q: I am considering buying BEP.UN or BAM.A for a long term hold in an RRSP account. I have read your report on BEP.UN (excellent information), but was wondering if you prefer it to BAM.A? Thanks for such a great site in such a short time!

Q: I have a question about Brookfield Renewable
I use the TMXMoney site to check fundamentals of companies. This site shows that the EPS of BEP.UN is -1.83 yet it pays out a dividend of 1.38. I like the yield that BEP.UN offers but am concerned that it can't possibly be sustainable if the company is actually losing money. Am I missing something here? I am looking to invest in companies with decent yield. I don't need any capital appreciation but I don't wish to incur big capital losses either.

Q: Hi Peter, you must get tired of answering these similar questions on capital power and Brookfield renewable. As you know Capital is near a one year low and really near a 5 year low. Sure looks like a time to buy to me with 6% yield.With this past years trading record ,is it a good safe investment for the long run. I mean 5 years or more? I will not buy anything with a div. under 5% and Brookfield is so close, with the news on Brazil. I lean towards Capital with a bit higher yield and the potential problems in Brazil for Brookfied. Your thoughts please with the recent drop in Capital. Thanks for the patience and good advice, Ken

Q: You mentioned in commentary that BEP has slipped in price due to Brazil wanting to lower power prices. Could you pls provide perspective as to materilaity this could potentially have on BEP's earnings and share price were it to occur. Thx!

Q: BEP.UN is pulling back on the Western Wind stock purchase. As I recall one of the things you liked about BEP.UN was that it was primarily a hydro based utility. Does this purchase represent a change of direction in your opinion and what do you think of BEP.UN at this time.

Q: For most of your reports I usually check some of the fundamental data against my sources (Stockwatch). When I looked at your recent report on BEP.UN I noticed that you show them as having a market cap of $7.6B. I saw that Stockwatch shows the market cap of $3.9B – so I inquired and they supplied me with this statement from the TSX (their source):

I have confirmed with our Listings Dept. that 132,884,483 units are issued and outstanding for BEP.UN - Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP. And that this balances with the company's "Form 1" for July 2012.

This is an issued and outstanding number and not fully diluted.

The number from the email below is most likely the fully-diluted number which TSX does not display on our site.

So I’m wondering what number is correct?

Please feel free to post my question and answer if you feel it would be helpful to others.

Q: Hello and thanks for your opinions and information. BEP.UN has fallen somewhat in the last few days. Do you see this as a minor bump or is there something that has changed to cause this?

Q: Alta Gas [ALA] is almost 20% of my non-reg portfolio. Avg div yield based on my cost is 6.88% [I've held it for a few years]. Can you recommend a similar stock with a good yield and limited downside that I could review? I need the dividend income ALA generates.
Thanks - Ron

Q: Is your answer to Gary on renewable energy companies at odds with your "A" rating on bep.un?

Q: Which stock do you prefer for an income with growth porfolio. I own both Northland, and AlA as well as Brookfield Infrastructure.Thank you,

Q: Thanks for analyzing and publishing your recommendation on BEP.UN. I really like the business after reading your report and the corporate presentation on their web site - stable business with long-term contracts and good international growth opportunities. One thing I'm curious about is how the NYSE listing is going to be structured later this year. I assume new shares will be issued. And if so, does that mean the value of existing TSX shares will be diluted? And it's better to invest after the NYSE listing? How is this type of secondary listing usually done? Any thoughts and comments? Thanks.