Investment Q&A

Q: I was recently reading an article about a somewhat prominent US investor who runs an extremely concentrated portfolio. I was rather startled to see that DSG was one of his choices. For example, FB was one of his other tech holdings. I would appreciate your thoughts about the long term future of DSG and why this stock may have been selected in preference to the numerous other tech possibilities. I believe the existence of a moat is a key criteria for this investor.
Thank you.

Q: How would you assess the prospects of these two companies over the next year or so? I am considering swapping them for Constellation Software. Would this be a good move?

Q: I need to add to my tech sector. Would you add ENGH after the drop today? How about DSG? Any others that you would recommend to purchase right now?

Q: Could you please comment on the earnings release.

Thx

Q: Descartes and Intrinsyc are to release their quarterly earnings reports later today. Could you please advise as to analysts' expectations.

Thank you, Peter

Q: Based on other responses you prefer OTEX over DSG when forced to choose. I understand one reason may be valuation, but please expand on your other reasons for that preference. For example, does OTEX have a better growth outlook. If one owned DSG currently but not OTEX would you sell DSG and buy OTEX. My preference is to own one or the other and trading commissions and taxes are not an issue. Thanks for your reply.

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

Thank you for all the great work that you put in. My daughter's RESP is doing quite well thanks to your model portfolios.

Currently in my TFSA, I am holding DSG, FTS, NFI and WPK. I would like to add a fifth stock to my portfolio. The time frame for the TFSA is 10+ years. Any suggestions to increase the diversification?

Thanks in advance.

Marvin

Q: Hello Peter,
I am currently underweight commodities and overweight technology. What would you think of selling DSG and ENGH and buying TOG and RRX? Do you think whatever incremental return expected by this change would justify the increase in volatility and risk?
Also, what are the approx wait times in terms of weeks for a portfolio review?
Regards.

Q: Hi guys,

I presently own DSG with a nice profit, does it make sense to sell and purchase ALF.

Thanks,

Jim

Q: I am considering consolidating at least one of my tech stocks as some seem to be in similar businesses. Which tech stock of the above would you recommend to sell at this time. If something is sold, which one might you recommend to buy more. Or just best to do nothing. I have about 2% - 2.5% of my total equity portfolio in each. Thanks.

Q: I have listed the tech stocks I currently own. As much as I like all of them, I am very over-weight in that sector and need to re-balance my portfolio. I think I should sell 3 of them. Which 3 would you suggest?

Thank you, Peter

Q: Thinking of buying 1 or 2 of above 5.Is this a good entry point?Please pick 2 & list your preference.Appreciate u usual great services & opinions.

Q: I have held these stocks for several years and overall they are up in my portfolio. In the last year that have been flat or down. Are they a hold or sell for the 2017. They are held in a non registered account. Thanks for insight

Q: Hi 5i: I am in the process of aligning my equity portfolio more closely with the 5i Balanced Equity portfolio. Re the tech sector, I have KXS and SYZ as does 5i. However, instead of CSU and ENGH I have GIB.A and DSG. Would you recommend that I sell the latter two and pick up CSU and ENGH, or is there some intermediate step that you would recommend? Both GIB and DSG have done well for me so far. Thanks for your always valuable advice.

Q: Thanks for the new report on DSG. What do you think of a switch to DSG from ENGH? I have held ENGH for a while and it can't get any momentum. You speak positively about both these firms. What do you think of each for the next year? Thanks.

Q: Please comment on their results.

Q: Hi, As part of a portfolio cleanup I am considering replacing <1% positions in DSG and ESL, and adding some more cash and add a full position in OTC. Does this make sense? With the new purchase of DELL EMC enterprise..I think OTC has positioned itself for growth. Are the liabilities increasing due to this purchase? How does it plan to fund this purchase? Do you think it would be better idea to wait for the benefits/issues due to this purchase to sink in?

Q: Hi 5i Research team, I have a long term horizon, and more of a growth oriented investor profile. I prefer to well understand the companies I invest in. The technology sector represents a challenge for me in terms of software products, competition, rapidly changing conditions, obsolescence, variety of software portfolio, etc. So I would like to built a sector exposure based on a few companies instead of using an ETF. Based on reading 5i Research, I am thinking a combination of CSU, KXS, GIB.A, OTC, ESL, DSG, TCS, SYZ,SH. Do you agree with this strategy? Would you include some other companies in this list or replace some? In what order would you rank them in terms of total return potential over long term and overall quality? How many of them would be enough? Would you suggest another weighting than equal weight (2% each)? I also need criteria to manage this group since my understanding won't be up to par. How will I know when to sell, or when to over or underweight in some companies? I would not want to react too strongly to short term events (quarterly results). How would you suggest I implement this strategy (buying strategy)? Thank you, Eric

Q: Hi Guys,

Please comment on DSG's latest results and do you still like it for a 5 year hold.

thanks,

Jim

Q: I don't own this company (DSG) but it seems to have a pretty good price trend for several years. In particular from Mar2010 to Mar2016 its stock price rose from aprox. 6.3 to 23 or about 265%. Looking at its financials, it reported AEBITDA of .36 in Mar2010 and .80 in 2016 for a total increase over the same period of 122%. That seems odd given the price appreciation. In addition this is a growth rate in per share AEBITDA of only ~14% over the 6 year period resulting in a PEG ratio (using AEBITDA) of ~ 2.41. So my question is: Why is this stock so loved? Yes it has consistent "earnings" but they don't match the stock price appreciation. In their latest annual report they say they have a CAGR of 24% but that is not on a per share basis. So again what am I missing?
Cheers & thanks for the great service.