Investment Q&A

Q: I am a retired, conservative, dividend-income investor with a pension, CPP and diversified portfolio of mostly dividend payers (AD, AQN, ALA, BCE, BNS, CPG, CGX, PBH, RY, WSP, WEF, WCP, ZLB, XIT, Sentry Cdn Income Fund, Sentry REIT, RBC Cdn Income Fund, Annuities, Fisgard Capital).

I have held PBH for quite a while and need to trim it (for the 8th time), yet again. I am looking to build a position in another consumer stock (already hold CGX, PBH and those within ZLB and the above funds).

I think ECI would make a good fit, but I am concerned about the high P/E at 27.8 and high P/BV at 3.51. Also, this recent purchase is USA-based.

I am looking for a reliable dividend payer, with some dividend growth and capital gains growth as well. Your comments are appreciated. Thanks...Steve

Q: I presently have full positions of ADW.A. CCL.B, GUD, CSH.UN & WEF in my TFSA account and I am considering adding ECI. Your thoughts please.
Thanks
Roy

Q: I have held Enercare and Just Energy for approx the same amount of time. ECI has performed very well while JE is stagnant. Both have provided a Nice Income Stream which is important. I am considering selling JE and adding to ECI for Income and growth. I am reducing my income but expect that dividends as well as the stock price will grow. ECI's position would become approx 3% of my total holdings.

May I have your opinion on this move and some of the reasons.

Thank you,
Brian

Q: How would you view a switch from FSV or CIG to ECI? Both offer a lower yield but do they have better growth to make up for it? I have these companies before the split so there would be some capital gains tax. Should I switch out from one(which one) or both to ECI or you think it does not make much of a difference?
Regards

Q: The market reactions right now are perplexing. With a financing 5% below the market price (that seemed oversubscribed as many only received 25-33% of what they requested) and an acquisition that is 25% accretive to shareholders, I'm surprised that ECI didn't pop 10-15% on the news, leaving still significant upward potential for the deal needing to close/execution risk, etc. Am I missing anything? Are they taking on too much debt perhaps? Or perhaps significant short selling to lock in a guaranteed profit and buying back on the financing...
To me, it seems an excellent time to purchase ECI, 5.5% yield while you wait and over the next 1-6 months, one would think the share price has as much as 25-30% upward potential.

Q: Hello Gentlemen,

I am looking to add to my income portfolio this company. Yesterday they declared strategic acquisition of SEHAC Holdings and today IIROC made a decision to halt ECI trading... And stock is almost 4% down... Volumes were much higher than usual. Your comments would be highly appreciated! Thank you for great service!

Q: Does the company have much growth potential or is it best viewed as primarily a good solid dividend stock? If a dividend stock, does the business model provide for an increasing dividend?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: What are your best suggestions for three stocks with high sustainable yield?
Thank you
Margita

Q: Your comments and future outlook pls. on the Q3 results. Why the drop in the stock price?
Thank you!

Q: Could I please get your opinion on the financial results out today on this company. Thank you
Garry

Q: hello 5i:
I am VERY interested in ECI, after reading the latest report. BUTTT, I see on another site, that ECIs present P/CF is 6.7 vs a 5-year average if 5.2. So, there is growth already baked into the price. And present P/CF is -4.4. I'm having trouble putting together a negative CF growth rate with a higher P/CF. Please unwind this for me, so I can settle in my mind whether or not this company is fairly valued or overvalued. It just does not seem undervalued. what am I missing?

Q: Do you see much growth and thoughts on earnings

Q: Is this a buying opportunity in Enercare, the stock erased all is gain of 2015 and yield around 6.3%. Seem a bit overdone here, whats your thought.
thanks.

Q: Any chance yet to determine whether recent acquisition is a good one for this company going forward as its announcement has not had a positive effect on the stock price yet?

Q: Re Enercare payout ratios Members might want to check-out the
slide presentations at the link below for clarification. Also don't forget they just took over assets of Direct Energy in Q4/2014 with integration still ongoing.

http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/CWIF/215083183x0x829571/C64CD778-190D-4C5B-BB79-73AB2E5B0FE7/EnerCare_Q1_2015_Slides-FINAL.pdf

Q: I’m a little confused reference your answers to the two most recent questions on Enercare ECI dividend payout ratios

May 22, 2015 (asked by Grant)
The payout ratio is 68%, and dropped 4 points last quarter.

March 04, 2015 (asked by Eugene)
If we look at 2014 full year numbers, ECI generated $121 million in operating cash flow, and paid $46 million in dividends. Against cash flow, the payout ratio was 38%.

Am I missing something here, or has it really changed that much?

Q: Have been a shareholder of Enercare for a while now and have been rewarded handsomely. While the thesis for buying this stock for the longer term is for the income, it's grown to be a bigger portion of my portfolio. Because of that, I've been devling into their financial statements for any risks to their income.

This is when I found this in their latest annual report -- ECI has said that the annual dividend is $0.72 and their EPS is $0.34, yet their payout ratio given is 80%. Shouldn't it instead be 200%+?

Q: I was all set to sell my ECI holdings because I thought the company was just for income with little in the way of growth prospects. Given today's results should I be reassessing my commitment to this company?

Thank you.

Paul F.

Q: Hi,

Could you update your current views on this stock. Specifically, do you see much upside in share price and would you consider this to be a good entry point.

Thanks

Q: The CEO has direct ownership of 5,260 common shares; 682,368 options and 54,750 performance units. In addition he also has an indirect ownership of 71,825 common shares.
What does indirect ownership mean? I have heard a high quantity of options relative to common shares is not good. Could you enlighten me on this. Thank you.