Investment Q&A

Q: What are you concerns with Student Transportation? Would you suggest selling it in this market?
Many Thanks for your words of wisdom.

Q: Within a register account, aka RRSP, I hold two pipelines IPL and PPL, each with a weighting of 5.5% and both held for sometime. (In addition, the other energy "utilities" are ALA (4.3%) and KEY (6.4%)...so the total for this energy "utilities" sector so to speak is 21.7% and this is within what I consider a diversified portfolio.)
Looking forward for 3 to 5 years, should the weighting mix of IPL and PPL be changed and might include say ENB or another such entity? (I'm asking this because of the recent 5iR comments/evaluation of ENB.)
Also, in the context of all the existing holdings within the energy "utilities, should the current course be maintained/held or modified/tweeked?
.....thanks......Tom

Q: What do you think of their acquisition of TECO energy for 10 billions US. Seem like a large bet into the US.

Q: Could I please have your thoughts on cpx?
Thank you

Q: In response to Bob's question about valuation metrics, you mention that "You can often find good value in companies in declining sectors but we would not view this as an attractive opportunity." Can you give an example?

Q: Since you last commented on GRC on August 19, the Company has announced (1) a second big win which together with their first win adds up to proceeds of $8.8 mil which dwarfs the $2 mil of writeoffs, (2) it is collecting $400k on one of the write-offs, and (3) they have closed another deal for US$2 mil.

The stock moved up on these announcements but has settled back down. I was just wondering if these events give you more comfort in recommending this stock, which is now carrying over a 10% yield?

Q: I am considering adding Valener Energy to my portfolio. However I note that the dividend is rather high and am wondering about the stability of this company and its ability to continue to pay its dividend.

Thank You

Q: Hi,

In light of recent market volatility, can you provide a short list of some of the best defensive equities/ETFs/Mutual Funds that can/could be expected to not decline as much as the market during a downturn/correction?

Thanks,
Cam

Q: I would like your comments on HMP vs HBB, CBO & XBB? Would they all react basically the same to interest rate increase?

Thanks, Gilles

Q: Can I have your opinion on NPI and AQN for stability and growth. Which would you prefer for a long term investment?

Q: Hi, you have recently recommended the following four utilities for long term investors: ALA, PPL, BEP.UN, FTS.

Can you advise how you would rate AQN compared to the above? I am an income investor and really like the chart of AQN for dividend and capital growth. Do you see the growth continuing?

Q: I am looking at DDJ, but the shares do not seem to trade very much at all. Also they have a lot of speculative names in their portfolio. On the other hand, the yield is good at 7.6% and the share price has been stable for quite a while. Are there any other good alternatives to HYB.UN that have more liquidity, less speculative names and comparable stability?

Q: I would appreciate your thoughts on adding 1% to an existing positions in PPL and ALA at this time. Current utilities allocation is 8% as follows: ALA 2.5%; PPL 2.3%; BEP.UN 3.2%. Alternatively, would you suggest replacing one of these holdings with either FTS or EMA?

Q: Which is most likely to be able to grow and to pay dividends
for the long term ( ten years )

Q: I would like to add a utility to my portfolio. I've compared Emera and Fortis. Would you recommend one of these over the other or an alternative?

Thank you.

Rossana

Q: 9:35 AM 8/23/2015
Hello Peter & Staff :

I have a large Prov of Ontario bond representing 3.5% of my portfolio, maturing soon with a 4.3% yield. The only altenative I have is to replace it with the safest most reliable dividend stock that I can find as I choose not to buy bonds, GICs, or preferreds because of the very low yields and the risk of capital loss on preferreds.

I searched today for any Provincial bond worth owning and I don't come up with much : The bond with the highest yield that I can find is an Alberta bond maturing 2029 that yields 2.49% to maturity, so any "safe" stock that can beat that return surely is better even if they cut the dividend by 50%

I am expecting a very protracted very rough time in the markets in the next years ahead. I would like a stock that I can hold indefinitely that has a rock-solid balance sheet, reasonably low debt, reliable growing dividends, and long-term stability.

It seems to me that the "safest" sectors with good yields are financials, telecoms, utilities, and the few consumer stocks with decent dividends, and I have been searching through all your answers and am considering CM, NA, GWO, BCE, FTS, EMA, CSW.A, and CSH.UN as possible candidates.

Could you comment on these companies please, indicating which you believe to be "safest" for long-term ongoing dividends, and explain your choices for me, and perhaps list them in order of preference.

Your answers are always most appreciated, Many thanks...... Paul K

Q: Hi, to what extent are the shares of renewable energy companies such as RNW, CPX and INE suffering because low oil and gas prices are potentially seen as a replacement energy source, therefore eventually lowering demand for renewable energy?

Also, which utility companies do you feel offer good value and safety here (excluding pipelines).

Thanks.

Q: BEP.un is holding up well in the current market onslaught, while RNW not so much. From your comments you seem to like RNW but prefer BEP.un. Could you comment on these two please: Why does the market (and you) prefer BEP.un? How do they compare in terms of future growth prospects? Payout ratio? Price-to-cash flow? Which would you buy today? Would you sell RNW? What do you think of the two management teams? Thanks for your comments.

Q: With regards to your earlier response to a question on ENF closing the asset transfer deal, yesterday they announced shareholder approval and expect closing of the transaction to occur on in 10 days. At this point, is there really much risk of the deal not closing?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/enbridge-income-fund-holdings-inc-shareholders-approve-acquisition-of-canadian-liquids-pipelines-business-and-renewable-energy-assets-from-enbridge-inc-2015-08-20-181732718

Q: ENF keeps going down, is it just market related? Is it good long term buy at this level and in this market or should I wait.

Thanks,
Milan