Investment Q&A

Q: I am looking at putting together a portfolio of set-&-forget Canadian dividend-paying stocks, in what will be my only unregistered account, making up about 30% of our overall portfolio. The registered accounts (70% of portfolio) are now all in mixes of VGRO, VBAL and XAW.
My emphasis is on stable large cap companies, with a sprinkling of smaller cap, low beta, decent and growing dividends. I expect to draw down the capital at 6 - 7% per year (in addition to the dividends). Beyond the drawdown, capital preservation is secondary to the income.
What are your thoughts on the following mix? Additions/deletions?
Communication: BCE, T
Consumer Discretionary: CTC.A, LNF
Consumer Staples: NWC, PBH
Financials: BNS, TD, SLF
Industrials: SIS
Materials: SJ
Real Estate: CRT.UN
Energy & Utilities: ENB, AQN, FTS, ACO.X, BEP.UN (or BEPC)
My other thought is 100% CDZ but I'm not very impressed with the historical returns and the (relatively) high MER.
Thanks. Lotar.

Q: trying to decide between these two companies strictly for upside in the next few years. can you give me your views between the two.

thanks Dave

Q: Hola Peter et al.

My daughter’s TFSA is a mix of growth and stable names. A year or so go I bought TCL.A, expecting a stable company with some growth...but it went the wrong way. Would it make sense to sell TCL and buy LNF or would that be switching one good but slow moving company for a second good but slow moving Co.?

The difference in sector is not relevant and obviously taxes are not a factor.
Many thanks. Robert

Q: In one of my previous questions about Leon's, I referenced the company's profile page where it shows, like it has for months, that there is one analyst covering LNF. In your answer, you indicated there were, in fact, two analysts covering LNF.

Q1 = I have waited quite a while for the 5iR company profile page to be updated by your data provider to reflect the above # analysts (two). Is there a way to reach out to your data provider and request him to update this? Or...is it that the "missing analyst" is from a firm that they do not consider significant enough?

Q2 = While we are on the topic, how many analysts does 5iR currently have in their system that cover LNF now and what is there current target?

Q3 = What is YOUR internal target for Leon's one year out? How much upside to you see?

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: Retired, dividend-income, "buy-and-hold" investor. I am light in Consumer Cyclical. Do you still like Leon's? What other choices would you recommend that pay at least a 2.5% dividend. Please rank them for total return best to worst.
Thanks....Steve

Q: I hold CTC.A and have been considering switching to LNF taxes not an issue. Could you compare the companies and offer which company you perfer. Thanks

Q: Part 2 of my question about year end adjustments to my portfolio. I have fairly small positions in 10 of these stocks (0.6% to 1.1%), and no position in DOO. I would like to add to several of these using the cash generated from reducing larger positions in some holdings. Looking for best long term total return, 5+ years. Sector, and size of company not a major consideration, in a well diversified portfolio. I like growth, I like dividends. Looking at ATD.B, BAM.A, CAR.UN, DIR.UN, DOO, GRT.UN, ITP, LNF, TCN, TECK.B, SLF. Thank you.

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor, who normally employs a buy-and-hold strategy. I have long term core positions of mostly conservative equities (ETFs = CDZ, XIT, ZLB, ZWC, ZRE, LIFE; Stocks = AD, AQN, BCE, CSH, FTS, MFC, NTR, NWC, PBH, PLC, RY, TRP, WSP) and fixed income of annuities, Fisgard and Gov't-Private pensions. I believe my portfolio is set up fairly conservatively.

I have cash for another position in my Cash Account. I have been reading several 5iR questions lately about various themes for 2021 (Recovery Trade, Swap from Growth to Value, Emerging Market improvements, Take-Over Candidates, etc.). While I'm not even sure if this is possible, I'd like to ask you to screen for as many of them as possible (all thrown into one big ball) to create a half dozen candidates for me to do more research on. I'm looking for a starting point. I'm not even sure where to start, hence the request.

I'm looking for a Canadian (preferably) or USA company, potentially a take-out target, benefitting from the recovery of the economy. I lean towards the Value spectrum, as I inherently find it difficult to buy a stock that has already had a good run. If a dividend could be thrown in, that would be a bonus. Market cap and sector do not matter.

This is sort of a "kitchen sink" kind of question. If that results in zero candidates, then please use your discretion and drop various filters. As you can tell by my current holdings, they are for the most part, blue-chip companies. If we could identify something like an Enercare (that was taken out by Brookfield), that would be a homerun.....happy to hold it but ecstatic to have it taken out. But Enercare is just an example.

Please rank them from best candidate to least...maybe 3 Canadian and 3 USA companies or all 6 from Canada if possible.

If you can run this exercise, then I'll do some further research on your list. I know this is a crazy request...thanks in advance. Take as many credits as you need to throw some brain power at this....I'll never use all of the credits I currently have.

Much appreciated...Steve

Q: How can Leon's get $ from CEBA and increase their dividend, pay a special dividend and still buy back lots of shares on a regular basis.
This does not smell right for me. Do they have to pay back any of the CEBA handout? Bad move by somebody here.

Q: I'm helping my 27 yr old daughter with her TFSA investments. The TFSA currently holds GSY, KXS, LSPD, PBH and SHOP, which have all done very well. I got SHOP for her at $67/share, so it's done particularly well!!
I'm looking to add one more growth stock to the mix, and have been considering LNF, WELL, GOOS, DOO or ATZ, but am completely open to another suggestion to complement her existing holdings. Please rank these from best to worst for growth (with moderate risk) if you were add today for a 1-3 year hold. If you have another suggestion for a stock that may perform better over that time frame, please provide it.
Thanks 5i for such wise and timely advice, always!

Q: A follow up to Steve's question. All the positives which you have noted regarding LNF are impressive. I am wondering about the government funds they received from the CEBA program. Not having that in the coming quarters will make quarter over quarter comparisons less attractive... how much of an impact will this have?

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I'd like to rebuild my position in Leon's.

When I look at the Fundamentals (P/E, P/BV, P/CF, P/S, ROE, Beta), they all lead me to just buy it at today's current level of roughly $20.

However, when I look at the Technicals, especially when one overlays the 50 mda and the 200 mda, a completely different conclusion is reached. The chart shows that very single time the 50 gets way ahead of the 200 (as it is today), that it retreats a couple of dollars.

This leads me to believe that a better entry point, instead of todays $20 level, is in the $18.00 to $18.50 range. But...doesn't this logic approach "market timing"?

Bill Harris on BNN just gave LNF a very strong endorsement and suggested if all of the stars aligned (my words), that a target of $25-30 was not out of line. He indicated their FCF was bordering on "absurd"...$250-300 million.

Please help me sort through the mire of Fundamentals vs Technicals vs Market timing and point me in the right direction.

Thanks...much appreciated, Steve

Q: Is it too late to buy ATZ? Are there others in the sector you like better?

Q: Hi group now that a vaccine is close I would like to start to build a portfolio based on good solid cheap value stocks . Can you recommend along with brief comments a couple of stocks in each of the key sectors that will start to move as the vaccine comes on line. Your expertise is appreciated

Q: Good Morning
How would you compare Leon’s and Park Lawn. I had purchased both around the same time and currently Leon’s has far out performed. Would you consider a clean up trade selling PLC and buying more LNF at this time?(Portfolio weight not a concern). Or would you give PLC more time?
Thank you

Q: Thanks for the quick answer, in which you say there are 2 analysts covering Leon's with an average target price of $22.50.

When I go to the Company Profile page, it shows 1 analyst with a target of $17.00. Does the data base manager that feeds you your data need to update this? It has been like this for several months.

You also mention a special dividend...when is the date of record to be eligible for this?

Thanks again...Steve

Q: Retired dividend-income investor. I am a little light in the Consumer sector. I already own PBH, NWC and PLC with "full" positions relative to their individual risk level, as well as consumer stocks held within various ETFs (ZLB, CDZ, ZWC). I save a full 5% position for blue-chip stocks, like RY, FTS, BCE.

I started looking into the above stocks (AW, CTC, LNF, MG, PRMW, QSR), but filtered it down to a choice of LNF vs PRMW, using both fundamentals and technicals as well as considering my current holdings.

Q#1 = Based on PBH, NWC and PLC being long term holds, do you agree that 2 food companies are enough => I should select a non-food consumer, right?

Q#2 = If I had to choose between LNF and PRMW today, I am leaning towards LNF (better P/B, P/CF, P/S, ROE...better dividend too). So, in my opinion, I think it shows better value. Do you agree? Which shows better upside (I only see 1 analyst on LNF with a target of $17.00)?

Q#3 = Are there other Consumer stocks I should consider? Or, in your opinion, are any of the 5 stocks mentioned above deserve consideration?

Bottom line = where would you put your money?
Thanks, I appreciate your help.....Steve

Q: Hi, I was going to add to my consumer cyclicals by adding LNF based on your previous comments to others. However, I see this has a low volume of shares trading each day. This raises a red flag since if something should go wrong (e.g. bad quarter), the stock can drop considerably more as people scramble to get out. Do you see this as a valid concern? My other holdings in this sector are MG and CTC.A, both at full weightings. Can you suggest any others?

Q: HI
I purchased LNF a few months ago when it was a recommended strong buy by 5i. It has grown 10.98% YTD and 44% since my time of purchase. Last Friday, it reached a 52 week high and the company announced that it would buy back 4.99% of its shares starting Sept 15th. My understanding is that one of the reasons a company might buy back shares is to increase its price. To me, it seems to have already grown quite a bit.
1. Should I sell part of my shares given its growth?
2. Should the buy back have any weight on my decision to sell?
3. How does 5i decide on its recommendation (eg. hold etc)?
thanks again for all your help

Q: Retired dividend-income investor. Looking to add to my Consumer sector. I already own PBH, NWC, PLC. I am looking to add one more name, preferably with a dividend > 3%, although dividend security and dividend growth are more important than todays yield.

I have looked at CTC.A, LNF, MG, PRMW and QSR. I have researched each using both fundamentals (beta, P/E, P/BV, P/CF, P/S, ROE) and technicals (higher highs and higher lows, above 200mda), as well as current analyst estimates.

CTC.A comes across as just "ok". LNF has already had an incredible jump recently, so I am hesitant to buy at current prices. MG is not bad, but shows a ROE = -1%. PRMW looks good except for the ROE = -9%. QSR also looks good, showing a ROE = +29% (I can't find P/BV and P/CF anywhere). The bottom line is there doesn't appear to be a stand out obvious buy. I am leaning toward one of MG, PRMW or QSR.

Would you please rank all 5 companies from best to worst for the following (assuming a 3-5 year hold):
a) Dividend security
b) Capital gain potential
c) Total return potential

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated....Steve