Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter,

I am researching some companies in the medical aesthetics space (INMD, CUTR, VERO, AGN, EOLS) and was wondering in this space, what multiple do companies typically trade at from a few different key metrics such as price to sales, P/E ratio, and any other metrics that you feel would be relevant to this space from a valuation perspective? Thanks.

Q: On oct 1/19 you answered a question for Scott re agn/Abbie shares
With the price of agn today at $187 would you still hold agn till deal is done or sell and look for better opportunities
My cost on agn is $186
Thanks

Q: Thank you for your previous response to my question regarding these 2 stocks. I just want to make sure I completely understand your advice: 1) HLTH - My understanding is that my only hope to extracting any value out of this is to wait and see if the stock reappears on the OTC. How long would you suggest is a reasonable amount of time to wait to see if this is going to happen before giving up on the stock having any tradeable value (in my mind $.10 on the $1 is better than nothing)? If it goes OTC will it reappear on my Waterhouse account notifying me of the relisting or is there a place I can periodically search to see if it reappears on the OTC? In the event that I wait a "reasonable" amount of time and it is still not trading on the OTC I can see the merit of gifting the shares to Waterhouse to get the tax write off in the cash account ...... however it seems I would be best to just leave it in the registered accounts as there is no value in gifting them. correct? 2) AGN - you suggested that I tender the AGN shares for ABBV shares and cash........ I assume you meant don't sell the AGN shares on the open market (because of the current discount) and wait until the deal is done and this tendering of shares to the offer will happen automatically....... or do I need to provide instructions to the broker?

Thank you

Scott

Q: I have shares of HLTH in a cash as well as a registered account with TD Waterhouse and noticed that they are now showing as zero value in the accounts. I assume this has to do with them being recently delisted? This is new to me. Do the shares have value? Can I trade my shares now or in the future and how do I do that if they are delisted? If the shares are worthless, how do I go about claiming the tax loss in the cash account? I am really just looking for your guidance as to what you would do in this case. Help!

I also own AGN stock which has been a terrible performer for me. It perked up when ABBV made to offer to take it over. I believe the offer was for $188.24 in ABBV stock and cash but am not sure how that works,...in calculating how much ABBV stock you get, do they use the value of the ABBV stock on the day of the offer (June 25th) or the day of the closing (likely sometime 1st Q 2020)? Do we know what % of the $188.24 will be given in stock and what will be given in cash? Initially the discussion of the purchase was neutral to negative, but I noticed that ABBV has been getting upgrades recently and the narrative may be changing. If you owned AGN stock, what would you advice be?

Thanks You

Scott

Q: Hi Team, been holding Abbv in my rrsp for a while now, and was down till this morning, now , taking a big loss. After this mornings news, should I buy more, ( I know you are not fans of doubling down) Can they still afford to pay their dividend? I thank you in advance! Sam

Q: AGN has received a $188.24/s stock+cash offer from ABBV, yet (pre-market) its shares aren't breaking above $173. In this sort of situation, isn't it more typical for the share price to overshoot the offer (given the chance of another bid)? Or is the market doubtful that any deal will be completed?

Q: I want to raise some US$ and plan on selling one or more of my US health care holdings, which are all down 35-40% from purchase price. What order would you sell them? Thank you.

Q: How do you regard Goodwill and Intangibles in a balance sheet? In AGN's case over the last five years these two have grown enormously from 90% to 98% of Non-current Assets and from 72% to 88% of Total Assets. Would this worry you? Crimp credit in bad times?

Q: Hi, I have a 1/3 position in Allergan (AGN), down about 40%. Michael Waterhouse, a Morningstar analyst, makes a strong case that Allergan is considerably undervalued. I’m thinking of adding to my position and would appreciate your opinion. I also hold full positons in GILD, CSH.UN and GUD, as part of a well-diversified portfolio.
Thanks, Kevin

Q: I have a well diversified portfolio, 2/3 Cnd and 1/3 US. In the US I have full positions in BAC, GOOG, DWDP, AAPL and 3/4 positions in MS, PYPL and half positions in FLIR, SWKS and LYB. I am happy with all these and think you have endorsed all of these recently.
I have also held a full position in US biotechs (spread evenly 1/3 each across BIIB, AGN and REGN) for 2 years and they have done nothing. My question is, would you continue to hold these biotechs in the hope/belief that their turn will come and they too will participate in the remarkable US growth, or are there simply better sectors and stocks I should be looking at? I don't want to be stubborn and recklessly hang on. If moving on is the wiser bet, what one or 2 alternate names would you suggest given my current US holdings (or perhaps add to one of the existing positions?)
You have not steered me wrong yet and I welcome your comments,

Many Thanks

Scott

Q: Hi
looking to take a new position in healthcare: which one is a good investment or should look somewhere else?

Q: Can you please provide 5 us stocks that you consider as good candidates for shorting? I would like to short them with options for hedging purposes. Thank you.

Q: Is this a good opportunity at this time for a two year hold?

Q: Can you please address the issues plaguing Allergan at the moment? What is behind its momentous drop in share price over the past few weeks? I currently own a 2.5% position. Would you feel comfortable adding more on weakness. Would you buy today?
Thx
Karim

Q: Thanks to 5i I have a well diversified Canadian portfolio. I have been augmenting it with Large Cap US stocks that expose me to markets that are not available to me through the TSX and most of these US names have done very well for me. I am comfortable with being more concentrated in my US holdings as my Cdn investments make up 75-80% of my total portfolio and are well diversified across sectors. My US holdings are in a non-resgistered account and break down as follows:
AAPL - 35%
AGN/REGN/BIIB - 15%
BAC/MS - 27%
LYB - 3%
PYPL - 8%
SWKS - 7%
WBA - 5%

AAPL has done so well for me over the past few years that it is now a large part of my US exposure. My microchip stock (SWKS) has also done extremely well, but it is closely tied to AAPL. My question is given the current announcement by AAPL and its strong recent performance would you be inclined to take some profits off the table or let the "winners continue to run"? I have a reasonably high risk tolerance but do not want to be unduly foolish/greedy. Would you suggest any other changes to what I am holding? What would be your top 3 or 4 US stocks to augment this portfolio?

I value and appreciate your guidance.

Many Thanks
Scott

Q: Enghouse and Allergan have been weak and range bound for some time. Is there a strategy for stocks like this? Does one lower a portfolio weighting once a stock looses momentum? My hesitation has always been that at any time these stocks can report an acquisition and open higher in the double digits. As well, I feel like a hypocrite buying for the long term only to move on when things slow only to look back years later wishing I held. Allergan is a 4% weighting, Enghouse is a 2.5% weighting. Would you consider these core holdings?

Q: I enjoy your reply to our questions very much and feel time to have your option about my holding for VRX ,CXR and AGN.specially about VRX which I have 700 shares. My healthcare mutual fund seems not performance very well. Should I hold ,sale or buy more?Thanks

Q: Hello Team,
Could you give me your analysis on Allergan. It is down dramatically since the merger with Pfizer was stopped. Is it great value, or a value trap/
Thank You,
Barry

Q: Hi Peter, I'm interested in preferreds and wonder about the rate reset feature. Recently AGN issued 6 year rate reset preferred @4.5%. The reset in 6 years is equal to the 5 year Canada yield plus 2.94%. Do you think that yield potential will be sufficient to keep the preferred trading at about par in the interim?