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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: I am looking at purchasing more BIN for what I see as diversification in a long term (10 years or more) portfolio. With the recent purchase by a large US company it appears even more attractive to me. However you action in removing it from a model portfolio has caused me to pause in my decision. I would appreciate it if you would provide your rationale for removing BIN. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on February 18, 2016
Q: Peter and Team,

Now that we have this offer for BIN, I am thinking about what to replace it with. I am mostly aligned with the model portfolio but don't yet own CCL.B, WSP, or MDA but have always been interested in them. My BIN position is close to 5% of the portfolio following the recent market declines and the offer for BIN. Should I buy any one of the three I named from the model portfolio or split the position and buy two of the names?

Thoughts?
Read Answer Asked by Marc on January 19, 2016
Q: I purchased Progressive Waste to get a dividend paying company that would be able to take advantage of the weak Canadian dollar. Since that time they have had some weak earnings and now are looking at possibly selling the company. With the bump in price I am now even on the name. Should I sell part or all of my position seeing as how my investment thesis doesn't seem to be playing out how I expected. Or would you wait and see how this plays out?
Read Answer Asked by justin on January 05, 2016
Q: With Progressive in the "Penalty Bin" more of less of late I was looking at buying. I note from a recent response that the cash flow per share is expected to grow at something like 30% over the next two years. What is the source of the improved cash flow - fuel prices have been low for a year, their route network must be somewhat optimized, I can't imagine that there will be that much more garbage and recycling or is it that they will just be spending less on maintenance and growth capital? Thanks for the great insights!
Read Answer Asked by Derek on November 27, 2015
Q: Hello Peter & Team,

I bought @ $36.48... Current price $30.63.

I have a concern regarding a reported long term debt of $1.5B and a fairly high cost on this debt at 4%. Also, it's business appears to be negatively effected by a strong U$ and from what I can tell, the U$ strength isn't going to change any time soon and in fact could get stronger.

I was wondering if you could comment on their debt scenario, what effect that could have moving forward and what you see long term (1 - 2 yrs) for the share price.

I am considering selling at a loss and moving on.

Thanks for all you do

Gord
Read Answer Asked by Gord on November 24, 2015
Q: With the sudden share price drop of Progressive Waste Management (BIN), I am considering the purchase of more shares in the company which at current prices constitute approximately 1% of my family’s investments. A simplistic examination shows debt to be high, price to book in excess of 2 and my crude forward estimate of PE to be about 30 if current earnings continue for the next year. All of these are negative to a purchase; however, as you have alluded to in the past, it is a growing company so one cannot expect low PE’s (although currently they are showing negative growth and assets are reducing). To further investigate I listened to the company’s webcast of October 19 which strongly suggested the downfall was mainly due to mismanagement in the Western Region exacerbated by flooding in Texas earlier this year and FX issues. With the background of the CEO in finance, it is understandable that he would not be quickly attuned to operational and maintenance problems in this important geographical area of the company. The 5i thorough review of the company rated it as a “A-“; which was my original reason for purchasing shares earlier in the year, and the Webcast presentation provided support for my plan to purchase more shares at the current depressed prices. In further investigation, I noticed that CEO and CFO significantly reduced their holdings in late August and all officers essentially eliminated their holdings at the same time. The only purchases from insiders were by directors during September. This disposal of shares 1.5 months prior to disclosure to the public does not give me a good feeling. Am I totally misguided in regards to insider trading prior to disclosure being an important issue? If so I plan to purchase more shares for at least a 5 year time frame since before the management issue, you showed strong belief in the company as shown by placement in the Model portfolio and your “A-“rating. As always, I very much value your opinion in terms of share disposal by insiders, general current metrics of the company, possible re-rating of the company, and any other thoughts you may have.
Read Answer Asked by ED on November 02, 2015