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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: Hi, Dollarama was added to your Growth portfolio recently with full position. The stock was quiet for several weeks but took off recently to $169 (+10% since added). I bought a few shares at $158, during recent decline. However, with the market jitters (coupled with Desjardins downgrade citing valuation) specially over past two days, tested the lows of last quarterly release. Valuation seems to be still expensive. What's your take for short/long term ? For now, it's a tiny 1% position for me. Should I take advantage of the pull back and add or just liquidate ? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by rajeev on February 12, 2018
Q: Hi. Most utilities have taken a sharp hit over past 2 weeks, due to mounting concerns about their valuation, in the rising interest rates scenario. I guess, this could present an opportunity for long term income seeker investors. However, if rates continue to rise, these companies could also be subject to revaluation due to lower multiples, thus, being solely income vehicles with little or no potential for capital appreciation. I would like to allocate my capital to companies where there is growth and some income generation ( and dividend growth potential).
I have ENB, KWH.un and ECI in my portfolio. Enbridge has been out of favour for past year due to concerns about high debt and questions about sustaining/supporting its dividend growth. But, still there seems to be some growth potential. Crius management recently indicated their preference to reallocate their cash flow to growth and pay down debts rather continue to increase dividends. Enercare still seems to enjoy consistent cash flow but not sure where growth will come from.

With this view, I have done a bit of capital reallocation and reduced my KWH.un and ECI position to less than 2%, over past few days and started to deploy towards solid companies with higher growth potential, like, SJ, CSU, AFN etc.

What are your thoughts about this strategy ? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by rajeev on February 12, 2018
Q: Hi, we started investing in Constellation Software, 4-5 years ago and stock has done phenominally well. Over time, we have trimmed the position by half, but still it is about 10% of our portfolio. This company continues to please investors with consistent growth thro' strategic acquisitions and smartly integrating in its model. Acceco Solutions acquisition for $250 mln was quite impressive. I ( and most shareholders) have developed enormous respect for Mark Leonard, as we learn more and more about his capital allocation strategies and management style as. ( Not to mention his decision to cut his salary to Zero ).

I continue to believe that CSU is tremendous value even at current levels and there is temptation to add more shares to our portfolio (specially with last 2 days pullback).
There does not seem to be many similar investment opportunities in Technology sector in Canadian markets. Would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by rajeev on February 12, 2018
Q: Is the newest member of your team, Barkha Rani, on twitter and/or social media so that we can follow her insights there?
Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Zach on February 12, 2018
Q: I would like to get your thoughts on the latest news that Amazon is looking at the possibility of doing their own shipping and how this may affect Fedex. Should I continue to hold onto my Fedex shares (down slightly) or is this a good time to move on to something else? Maybe Amazon given that they are currently down?
Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Brian on February 12, 2018
Q: I am thinking of replacing positions in Shaw and Rogers with BCE and Chartwell. My only real reason for doing so would be if there was no downside with respect to balance sheets and current valuation and potential upside on share price appreciation and dividend growth over the long term. Would you make the change if those were the only criteria (i.e. without respect to Chartwell's smaller size, different sector etc.)?

Always look forward to your insight, thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen R. on February 12, 2018
Q: Enc.pr.a

Hello 5i
Thanks for the informative service.

I have owned this ecn capital pref share for a while with original purchase price below the $25 issue. I am surprised to see the price back down to this level again given it is a rate reset with a minimum yield% reset.
Has the risk level of this pref or the company increased recently?
The volume is very low. Is this just simpathy selling associated with Efn poor performance and lowered outlook?
Your though on what is up with this share is appreciated.
Dave


Read Answer Asked by Dave on February 12, 2018
Q: Currently holding (exclusively) Mawer Canadian Equity (MAW106) in a TFSA account targeting an “all-weather” (i.e., buy-and-hold) long-term investment, to which the maximum allowable has been contributed each year including for year 2018. The appeal of this product was the low fees (for a mutual fund product) and record of long-term out-performance relative to the TSX index, though note that recent 1 and 2-year results have dipped below the TSX index, and now showing a 3-star rating on GlobeFund. Appreciate your insight on the scenario for a 10-year hold, no withdrawals, maximum annual contributions, volatility not a concern, and seeking only to maximize the available balance at the end of 10 years. Things that come to mind are: 1) Percentage to place in Canadian investments versus international markets; and 2) Where the long-term edge is in terms of relying on one or more low-cost mutual funds, or jumping into pool of ETFs, or jumping into individual stocks (and which portfolio to model). Thanks for continued great service.
Read Answer Asked by Michael on February 12, 2018
Q: Hello Peter et al.

We seem to be getting the market pullback that is much needed for the market to go higher. The Canadian market is a big laggard though. However in all of this turmoil these three stocks have appeared to be on fire. Can I get your opinion on these three stocks. They all hold about a 1-1.5% of my portfolio. Would you buy,sell or hold at these levels?

Thanks,

Brendan
Read Answer Asked by Brendan on February 12, 2018
Q: 5I
When looking at a company's ability to pay a dividend the common ratio people look at is the dividend payout ratio. However from reading some of your information over the years I realize there is much more to it that that. Can you please list the other important factors such as interest coverage, free cash flow etc. Listing them will be fine. I will search and come up with the calculations and then go to the financial statements.

Thank you

Paul
Read Answer Asked by paul on February 12, 2018