Investment Q&A

Q: With high debt being a concern for all companies, I thought today's news was reasonably positive but it appears that the market disagrees. As always, I would appreciate your analysis.

Tricon Capital Group Inc. (TCN-T) says it has an agreement to sell the portfolio of 14 manufactured housing communities, including its Tricon Lifestyle Communities investment vertical to an institutional investor. "The sale of our TLC manufactured housing communities portfolio represents the next meaningful step along our stated plan to simplify Tricon's business," said Gary Berman, CEO of Tricon Capital. "We intend to use the net proceeds largely to pay down our corporate credit facility, reducing our overall debt level and creating additional flexibility for future investments. Going forward, we will focus our growth efforts on our core investment verticals, where we have a clear path to scale, leadership and attractive long-term returns."

Q: Hi Ryan Peter
Do you feel this stock should continue to have a A rating today it hit a 12 month low it is my biggest capital drain but I will stay vested due to the div increase and hope for some recovery .
PBH receives a B rating and has grown 40% over the last 12 months .
I find this some what confusing.
Kind Regards
Stan

Q: Can you tell how much cash the company will hold after the loans are restructured based on the latest F/S and the latest press release. I have looked at both but don’t understand all the terms they use.

The second part of my question relates to cash flow . It seems to me if they don’t buy anything else they could easily repay the term loans before 2025 . It looks to me that they throw off approx $50m per month prior to interest pmts.
Thanks

Q: Good day,
Should I be concerned by the decline in AW ? Its been going down $10 last year. While I am still in positive territory, I used to have a really great return on this one and I don't recall any particular bad news. What has changed and what the future looks like in your opinion. Please recommend 2-3 safe income stocks with upside potential and tell me if you recommend to swap. Its in a RESP. Thanks!!

Q: Peter, if you became a fund manager again starting this week, what would be the first stock you would want to buy?

Q: Mr. Hodson, could it be that GUD is precluded from buying back ENDO by virtue of a non-compete clause for 3 years ? If so, one would have to abide by that clause. It would no be possible to avoid such clause. Therefore, one would have to await the passage of such time, as this would be binding for both parties. Does that makes sense ?

Q: Good day...I hold both kxs and dsg and other 5i tech stocks ...my overall tech allocation is 17%...my question is whether it makes sense to hold both kxs and dsg as their software tends to be similar but different ...could you please help me with this concern....Eugene

Q: I’m worried about ECI. The price trend has been down for three months, but my bigger worry is about criticism of its core business model in the media recently. It seems some of ECI’s clients are complaining they were locked into high-priced long-term (14+ year) water heater rental contracts unknowingly, and without the ability to opt out, when they bought their new homes. Apparently if they want to get out of these contracts now they must pay huge sums of money that make doing so very uneconomic. There are demands for government action to regulate such predatory contracts. Some water heater rental companies are doing this for sure, though I am unsure about the specific terms of ECI’s contracts compared to other companies. Can you shed any light on this? In your view, how much is this raising the risk profile of ECI?

Q: Hi Team, I am thinking about switching MAXR for MG. This would mean selling MAXR at a loss. Which do you think has more upside potential over the next1-2 years?
Thx

Q: Hi guys
I see High Liner had a new CEO appointed: " High Liner Foods Incorporated (HLF.TO) on Wednesday named Rod Hepponstall as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective May 1, 2018. Hepponstall will assume this role from Henry Demone, Chairman and CEO, who will continue as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Hepponstall will also serve on the board.

According to a statement, Hepponstall has 25 years of experience working in the food industry in the United States and Canada, in both retail and foodservice. It said he has held positions of increasing responsibility at several publically traded food companies, including Lamb-Weston, Inc., ConAgra Foods, Inc. and Maple Leaf Foods. He most recently held the position of Senior Vice President, General Manager Retail & Foodservice Business Units at Lamb-Weston Inc.."

I would have thought given the complexity of the fish wholesale market that they would have chosen a fish veteran rather than a person with more general food service direction or am I missing something. The market did not seem to like the choice as the stock was down 5%. Any thoughts of what this choice in CEO may bring to the direction of High liner.

Much thanks
Stuart

Q: Have held GUD for over 3 years and as a reward I am down aprox, 5% with no divy. to temper my impatience. Am thinking of replacing with BCI or OTEX in my growth portfolio. Would you endorse this move?.....which would have more upside? At what point does 5i run out of patience and throw GUD to the curb?

Q: Good morning. Why is K-Bro Linen continuing to drop almost daily? Is it time to sell?

Q: Hello:
With all of the news of trade wars, is it an appropriate time to sell SIS and MG due to their volatility related to this topic?

Q: In an April 2nd answer pertaining to a question about PBH, you stated that it is not cheap at 27X earnings. Both TD WaterHouse & 5iResearch’s company page states PBH’s P/E ratio is about 44X. Does the 27X figure refer to the forward P/E. If it does, from where did you obtain that figure & is it possible for 5iResearch clients to have access to companies forward P/E ratios. Thanks … Cal

Q: I can't see any news on Boyd to account for a 4% jump on a dreadful day. Any insight?

Q: because goeasy announced some mgmt changes, the stock is getting hit . is this justified.the stock is getting very very cheap.i know it is one of your favorites. can you comment dave

Q: A BNN guest recently made mention of a European competitor that may soon enter the NA marketplace that could severely impact Savaria's business, to the point where a friend of his considers SIS a short (I think this is also in part due to its valuation). Are you aware of any such threat on the horizon? Does Savaria have any kind of moat or special advantage that might insulate it from new (presumably established & high quality) competition?

Q: Hello 5i, I am up over 70% on this company. So I am wondering if it is time to consider selling or should I accumulate more. It's still under 5% of my portfolio. Do you see any reason to sell? What is your assessment of the company. They seem to be doing all the right things for some growth. Do you see anything in the near term that could cause some downward pressure? Thanks for your service..

Q: MAXR has been beaten up recently and justifiably so due to its expanding debt and poor earnings forecast. Lately they have been issuing a few press releases detailing new contracts, some from repeat customers. The contracts don't seem large enough to have a material impact on the company but they are good news none-the-less. The stock appeared to bounce on Friday up 3%. I am thinking of averaging down to my very long held position. The weighting would increase from 1.7% to 2% so I wouldn't be risking too much. Any comments or concerns?
Thanks,
Jim

Q: Fiera is paying the quarterly dividend on May 2nd. If they were on schedule, this would have been paid on March 15th. Just wondering if the gap in time is included in the May 2nd payment?