Investment Q&A

Q: I am struggling to understand the relationship between dividends from common shares versus preferreds. I understand the the preferred shares will be paid before the common shares. However preferred shares do not participate in any future dividend growth rates. As an example National Bank common shares (trading at $44.09)are offering annual dividend of $2.20 (yield of 4.99%) .The recent issue of national bank preferred NA.PR.A issue price of $25 offer dividend of $1.35 (yield of 5.4%). If the div on common were to grow by a modest 3% over the next 5 years the dividend would be $2.55 or 5.78% surpassing the preferred shares by almost .4%. Historically the div growth rate had been 10.5% which would make the case to own the common shares more compelling.
The argument that can be made for preferreds is when the company becomes distressed the dividends on the preferreds would be paid first. However is the protections really of values as both the share price of the common and preferred will most likely fall when the company is in distress.

My question is how do you calculate the breakeven between common versus preferred shares when looking at the dividends.

Regards...Antoine

Q: What do you think of EFN.PR.C, they're down from where I bought but the dividend has more than made up for that....would you continue to hold? Thanks.

Q: There have been 2 preferred issues that I know of recently
that have minimum resets that are very attractive for
a taxable acct. PPl.pr.m and trp.pr.j receting at 5.75 and 5.5% respectively. Do you know of any others ? and apart
from credit risk what is the downside with these ?
Thank you Ian

Q: FTP.DB matures at the end of the year. It has a healthy coupon rate and is selling at a discount to par value. Do you see this convertible debenture as an opportunistic investment with principal repaid within 7 months?

Q: AIM.PR.C - these have taken a beating. With the current high yield and likely about 5% on re-set in 2019 do you think it is "worth" adding to an existing modest allocation, for income?
Thanks.

Q: BPO.PR.H Called their pref today and am sitting on 8% cash what would you suggest I move into ,
Regards Stan

Q: I hold 'IBG.DB' debentures maturing 2019 June 30 in my TFSA.

If the shares appreciate above the conversion price, then the debentures become a kind of option on the shares, with interest income while you wait. In this case, it seems to make the most sense to sell or convert just prior to maturity (as holding to maturity would mean receiving back only face-value.)

On the other hand, IBI might at some point call the debenture away at face value, in which case the option value disappears. How do I make a judgement on the likelihood of the latter event? Am I missing something as concerns incentives not to hold to maturity?

Q: I have unfortunately owned these pref shares since first issued as EPP.PR.B. They then became CZP.PR.B and are now as noted and related to Atlantic Power. I don't really understand the corporate relationship. However they are a fixed reset and were reset in 2014 and now yield about 10% on their current price of $13.85 or about 5.6% on their issued price of $25.
Please provide your thoughts on this security. Is it worth a continued hold? Do you ever see the market price ever approaching the issue price? Do you consider the pref share dividend to be sustainable? They are unfortunately held in a registered account so no capital loss if sold.
Thanks

Q: Looks like a great div (6%), is the div./investment safe? would you be able give me the conversion details( price and date etc.). I would appreciate having your assessment of it, perhaps can suggest another alike investment. Many thanks. J.A.P., Burlington

Q: I would like to know if the new debenture issue being offered is safe for capital preservation and if there is anything about this offer such as the conversion of the debentures to equity and its other terms such as early redemption rights after the first 3 years, that would have a major impact on the debentures value and liquidity for a 5 year hold. What would these debenture rate as? Is there a fair possibility of future capital gains based on the conversion price of $44.75 per Share. I presently own 100 shares of EIF and am thinking of buying these debentures for an RRSP and or TFSA for a minimum 5 years or longer. Are there better and safer fixed income opportunities at the present time, that pay a 5.25% dividend that one could invest in?

Thank you for your answer.

Joseph

Q: Hi 5i,
I have some Exchange Income series G debentures, which were purchased at a discount to par and are now trading above par. Also, the EIF share price has just nudged up through the debentures’ conversion price. The issue does not mature until 2021 and the 6% coupon is still yielding over 5.5% at the debentures’ recent trading price, a better yield than any fixed income alternatives I have in mind right now. I purchased the debentures primarily to increase my overall fixed income yield and secondarily because I thought they also had some capital appreciation upside. They are held within my RSP so, whatever I do with them, there would be no immediate tax consequence. What I am looking for is a little help with the thought process on whether the unrealized capital gain and the move up through the conversion price suggests that I ought to be taking any action, or whether I should just continue to hold them for their bond qualities. Are there any rules of thumb in these circumstances with this kind of investment vehicle? The increase in value of the debentures is not enough to have substantially altered the balance between fixed income and equities within the RSP. So I wouldn’t need to trim them based on rebalancing the fixed income/equities mix alone. My overall investment time horizon extends well beyond their maturity date. Thanks for any thoughts.

Q: Could you provide the details of the MSI convertible bond please?
Thank you Phyl

Q: I own six reset preferred shares; AIM.PR.C (-48%), AZP.PR.B (-44%), BRO.PR.N (-39%), DC.PR.B (-41%), MFC.PR.H (-13%), and PPL.PR.G (-30%). Would it make any sense to sell all these these reset preferred shares, take my losses to reduce other capital gains, and repurchase them after 30 days? Or am I better off to just sell them or keep them for a potential recovery? I would be grateful for your recommendations. I have no need for income. I used reset preferred shares as a replace for bonds, which was a huge mistake.

Q: Hello Peter and team: I am looking at the above rate reset preferred shares, both of which have a minimum reset rate of 5.75% at maturity and are currnetly yielding approx. 5.7%.
Assuming that interest rates are not set to rise substantially in the next few years, what other factors and risks may cause these preferred shares to drop in price and do you think that these are safe to hold for the yield for a 5 year+ hold in a TFSA. Is there any difference between the M & K series and which would be preferable to hold at this time.

Thank you for your advise.
Joseph

Q: For money that will be needed in 5 years I am considering investing in some of the new recently issued bank pref shares.

TD.PF.G ,RY.PR.Q, BNS.PR.E

Assuming the shares are all called in 2021 at $25 the current yields would come out to be approximately 4.5%. This would be equivalent to approximately 7.7% on an interest rate.(depending on income levels ) If the banks issued a 5 year GIC at 7.7% the lineup would be long.

With this in mind, is the only realistic risk based on the possibility of interest rates rising?

Also, any thoughts how much these would get hit if interest rates rose , say a full 1%.

Great service & many thanks.

Paul

Q: I own ZWB. When interest rates rise, I suspect that individual high quality rate reset preferreds will have a greater increase in price than ZWB. What do you think? If you agree, please provide the name of a few rate resets with the 5 year renewing base rate. Thanks.

Q: Good morning 5i, in reference to Judy's question which of the preferreds (A, B or C) would make the best investment for income and what weighting would you consider safe? Thank you

Q: My investment in ATP convertable debentures will be called in May. Would you invest the proceeds in either ATP DB.U or DB.D?

Thanks Guys

Q: With the take over of Capstone Infrastructure, can you tell me how come CSE.PR.A is still trading around the$13.00 mark.Also would like to know if the preferred,s of AIMIA CORP and ATLANTIC POWER would be a good investment or are they too risky.
Thank you for the information.

Q: What is your opinion of the new TRP preferred series 13 for part of an income portfolio.

TRP.PR.J

Many Thanks

Paul