Investment Q&A

Q: Hello, I am looking at making some adjustments to my portfolio over the next few months as I am concerned about the possibility of the next recession perhaps coming by the end of 2019 or early 2020. I would appreciate your recommendations for some defensive stocks which would weather a recession without too big of a drop. I already hold ENB, FTS, BNS and TD which I intend to keep but am looking to replace some of my other stocks with more defensive names.
thanks for your advice.
Paula

Q: Good Morning,

I currently hold BEP, AQN and ENB in the utilities category of my portfolio with ENB weighted 50% more than BEP and AQN. I want to diversify and add a 4th to the group and would like your recommendation. CU comes to mind but I am wondering if it is still controlled by the Southern family ( Nothing personal but out of principle I am not a fan of family controlled public companies that put family members in charge rather than the best person for the job...). I am a retired investor looking for income with a dash of safety.

Thanks

Q: Given your recommendationed percentages for sector allocation could you tell me which stocks in your balanced portfolio are utility stocks and telecom stocks and if there are none in your balanced portfolio which would be a buy at this time?

Q: Of the 2 mentioned above, which do you favour at the present
Thank you

Q: Given the uncertainty in short term market direction,I have 50% of my TFSA in cash.I believe Canadian interest rates are not going to rise.I am considering the choices listed above, unless you can suggest others.I also have some cash in my US$ RRSP and am considering the Vanguard fund for this cash.US rates may climb further,but not much.Perhaps you could rate these according to risk.
Thank you.

Q: Hi, the listed shares currently make up my portfolio in relatively equal portions. I was wondering--with the $6000 TFSA amount, do any of these names stick out to top up with the full $6k or partial amounts? Alternatively I have been following Savaria SIS and considering initiating a new position? Thanks so much for your guidance.

Q: What are your three preferred Canadian Electrical Utilities to buy right now?

Q: Hi there,

I own a position in AQN and would like two of these 5 in a balanced portfolio. This would be for an extremely long term hold. Which 2 would you prefer and why please?

Thanks and Happy New Year

Q: With Bank of Canada suggesting this week that interest rates will likely not rise, but with the US Fed just suggesting likely two more rate increases, what do you think of buying Canadian Dividend Paying stocks right now? I think they are generally seen as positive when interest rates stabilize, but will Canadian dividend company stocks tend to decline in sympathy with US dividend stocks? For Canadian dividend stocks (3%+) what do you see as attractive next year - i.e. ones less affected by trade wars, lack of oil supply options, possible real estate bubbles, inter-provincial disputes, possible NAFTA turbulence!!!!!

Q: Hello, according to the company profile of TCL.A, the price-to-cash-flow ratio (P/CF) is 4.70. When one looks at the P/CF ratio of any company, above what ratio would you say that this is a good P/CF? In your opinion, what would be the top 5 utilities company right now? Thanks, Gervais

Q: Charge as many credits as you see fit...at least 4...got lots. Annually, I follow the O'Shaughnessy system and go through the tedious process of ranking over 90 stocks into deciles. I am screening for stocks that are good value, less volatile and have a good + growing dividend. For value, I use P/E, P/B, P/CF, P/S. For volatility, I use Beta. For dividends, this year I have added 5 year growth % into the process. The resultant summary number is the cumulative of the 7 metrics, with roughly 60% value, 15% volatility and 25% dividend weighting. I then marry this up with a technical screening, using charts with a 200 mda, looking for a rising vs rangebound vs declining chart.

Question 1 = your thoughts on my screening system? I thought of adding in other metrics, but I wanted to keep it relatively simple. Factors such as payout % and ROE can always be a looked at in the next phase. Should I drop any of the metrics if they are redundant?

Most of the stocks screened as expected. However, 3 stocks didn't screen well at all and I am trying to figure out why. It may be that my population of stocks is skewed to value stocks, so if any of the other 3 stocks had growth or REIT characteristics, then they might be seen as outliers.

Question 2 = CSH's fundamentals screened horribly = 10th decile. Could it be that REITs may screen out differently, due to their very nature?

Question 3 =Both PBH and WSP screened poorly = 8th decile. Could it be their fundamental metrics exhibit more growth characteristics?

Question 4 = Reading past 5iR questions on these 3 stocks leads me to believe you are still strongly in favor of all 3. Please confirm.

Thanks...Steve

Q: Good morning,
As an income investor, I have the following utility holdings that amount to about 12% of my non-registered holdings: FTS (up 10%), EMA and NPI (breaking even) and ALA (down 50%). I have no need to sell any of these and enjoy the dividends, but as a conservative senior and in a rising interest rate environment do you think it would be prudent to unload/reduce some of them or just hang on? If sell/reduce which should be the first to go?

Q: Good morning Peter, Ryan, and Team,

In an answer to Ulrike on October 2nd, in which he asked: "Which one company would you buy today? Hydro One or Fortis? Or none? And why?", you answered "Fortis has raised its dividend every year for close to 50 years, and we would have more confidence in it. H is OK, but has a lot of political interference still, with a new board as well, and a large acquisition that has yet to close."

It's your last comment that I'm wondering about. Washington state regulators have blocked the sale of Avista to Hydro One, citing "political interference". Does this setback for Hydro One affect your opinion of H going forward?

Thanks for your insight.

Q: "The new annual dividend rate applicable to the Series N Shares for the five-year period commencing on December 1, 2018 to, but excluding, December 1, 2023 will be 5.086 percent, being equal to the five-year Government of Canada bond yield of 2.436 percent determined as of today plus 2.65 percent in accordance with the terms of the Series N Shares.” (Quote from November 1 PRNewswire)

In hindsite I am thinking that I should have just bought 2 good dividend paying stocks, such as T, TRP, PPL, and FTS. ENB would also be high on my list though I do have a full position. The others are about a half position.

1 - Does this make any sense? I am thinking that the dividends are close to the 5% of the Preferred O shares and the chances of recovering some of my loses are probably better. somehow I think the Series O Preferred's don’t stand much chance of getting back to $25.00 in the next 5 years.

2 - Correct me if I am wrong but Enbridge won’t likely call the shares in unless the rates drop quite bit?

3 - If you believe that my thinking makes sense would you rank the suggested stocks including ENB in order of preference. Feel free to add any other Dividend stock over my suggestions

4 - What scenario would make the value of Series N appreciate or go up in value?

Please take as many credits as necessary for my questions.

John

Q: I had an equal weighting , originally, in the above mentioned. companies. I assume ALA will cut its dividend. That said , The other three have no hair on them. Would you think selling ALA , I have lots of gains, and moving into the other three??
Kind regards.

Q: hello! as a retired income investor, I have approx. 17% of my (well-diversified) portfolio in CBO, CLF, CPD, XHY … I also have CRT.UN, CHP.UN, CAR.UN, AW.UN, BIP.UN, BEP.UN (approx. 15%) .. I have $100k in cash that I would like to put to work .. what might you suggest? thanks!

Q: CU has been dropping steadily from over $42 in June 2017 to just over $31 today wiping out over 5 years' worth of dividends. What is happening? CU has raised it's dividend every year for 45 years. Is this the end of the dividend growth ride? It makes me afraid to invest as a senior looking for for the 5% dividend. Your advice? What utilities would you prefer [ie "safer" less volatile] with growing dividends around 5%.
Thanks......... Paul K

Q: Following up on a recent question regarding allocating the appropriate amount of monies to each stock, the amount depending on the size, safety, etc of that security. Would you agree with the current split (full, partial, small):

Full = AD (should be partial), AQN, BCE, BNS, FTS, RY, TRP.
Partial = CGX (could be full?), CSH, NFI, PGH (could be full?), TCL, WSP (could be full?).
Small = WCP.

Thanks...Steve

Q: What would your advice be relative to exceeding a theoretical 5% limit for blue chip Canadian companies which have been beaten down by simply market sentiment in a lot of cases? I'm thinking of increasing my holdings of some of those I have listed. I realize I can buy CDZ but have a slight preference for individual companies.

Thanks

Q: Let me try this question again. I currently own AQN and FTS. I do not want to buy more of either of these companies. I am thinking of buying another (a different) utility company. What would be your preference for a third utility to add to my other two. Thanks.