Investment Q&A

Q: ESL just reported first quarter results. This line was included:

Operating expenses increased to $23.0 from $14.9 million in the prior year's first quarter and include incremental operating costs related to acquisitions as well as special charges related to restructuring of acquired operations. Non-cash amortization charges in the quarter were $3.6 million and include amortization charges for acquired software and customer relationships from acquired operations.

Buffett refers to these in his recent letter saying some are not real and it makes sense for the investor to adjust for them. Do you agree? Is this what the company is doing when they show adjusted EBITDA?

Q: Hi Peter,
My Question is about ESL's recent acquisition of Locus Holdings. The shares are up over 5% since the announcement, despite the acquisition's small size relative to ESL itself. Would now be a good time to take some profits and move over to CSU or MDF?

Regards,
Mike

Q: hi, do you think [esl] enghouse would qualify as a stock that you could buy and forget about for 5 yrs,thanks as always.

Q: Hello,
In my TFSA, I own STN, BAD, WIN, BEP.UN, and SLW. I recently made my $5500 contribution for 2013 and was wondering if you might suggest how I should make use of this money. I am currently in my early 30s and am very much in favour of seeing growth in my portfolio. As always, thank you for the great advice.
Bashir

Q: Enghouse systems (esl). After a 2 dollar rise in its share price in the past month , does (esl) continue to be a buy or should a person wait for a pull back or consolidation? Thanks .

Q: Peter, what is your opinion on ESL's 4th quarter numbers? Very little reaction in their trading today
Thank you

Q: Hi Peter, you have profiled two companies that have recently run up, ESL and BAD, and I am wondering which you feel is cheaper not on a strict valuation basis but based on where you think they should be trading. Thanks.

Q: Hello,

Do you still view ESL as favourably as you did when you first issued the research report. I am thinking of taking a small position in the company and wonder if today's price would be considered a good entry point. Thank you for the very valuable opinions.

Q: Good Morning Peter and Team,
Looking forward to the Canadian Moneysaver Seminar this Saturday. My question is about Enghouse Systems (ESL-T). I know you have rated it highly (A-) and for very good reason. Would you consider this company a mini Constellation Software where one should just purchase it at a fair price (like now) and enjoy the ride ??? Just as an aside, I am finding that, over time, the smaller, well run, wealth creating, companies (i.e. Constellation Software, Paladin Labs, etc.) seldom, if ever, get really cheap in a Graham and Dodd sense. Therefore someone with a deep value orientation, fixated on price versus value, ends up tripping over the dollars to pickup the pennies. Thanks, Dennis

Q: I know you don't like to make it a practice to comment on quarterly earnings reports, but ESL has now gone through two mediocre quarters, and since you have only 3 companies rated higher in your Reports, and only another 3 rated as high, I wonder if there is some reason to be concerned that the company may fall short of your long term expectations, especially since, although the company pays a dividend it is such a small one there is little incentive to keep the stock for that reason alone.

Q: I have a question about Enghouse
What are you expecting for Revenue and Earnings for Q3?
Do you know what the consensus on the street is?

Thanks,
Sandy

Q: Thanks for your insightful report. Software development in general is a highly competitive industry. The amount of competition will likely affect a company's growth rate and chances of being acquired. Can you please comment on the competition that Enghouse has to deal with? Thanks.

Q: I have a question about Enghouse: Given the results announced on June 6 and that the stock is down over 6 % today, is ESL a buy ?

Thanks
Dave

Q: Iam a recent new member.I notice that Enghouse Systems Limited was recommenmded at a price of $12.08 on Dec 31. I presume that the rating still applies now that the price has risen to the present $13.64 in April?