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  5. ACO.X: A few times you said, you are not a fan of averaging down. [ATCO Ltd. Class I Non-voting Shares]
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Q: A few times you said, you are not a fan of averaging down. Could you elaborate why you did it with Atco in may and june? Not to be picky, just try to understand your thinking behind this action.
Thanks
Asked by Daniel on July 11, 2023
5i Research Answer:

While the negative momentum has not been great, it's a profitable company with $1.0B in cash, a $4.3B market cap, and an $8.5B equity position. It has an ROE near 10%, an expanding profit margin, a contracting valuation (forward P/E of 10.7X now), growing EBITDA, and a free cash flow yield of ~20%. Despite its drawdown in price, it's an attractive company with solid fundamentals. Its debt levels are high, but utilities are able to carry higher leverage. At the time that we added to it in the model portfolio (mid-June), it had contracted significantly in valuation, continued to have strong fundamentals, and was at a lower weight relative to all other positions, making it a logical addition.

We do not believe the negative momentum will last forever, and in fact this is a standard movement in price relative to its sideways trading over the past ~10 years. Averaging down is not our favourite, but for income-focused stocks, capital appreciation is typically more limited than with balanced or growth names.