Stockchase Opinions

David Cockfield Aecon Group Inc ARE-T BUY Jan 31, 2020

He sees pretty clear sailing for Aecon. The government spending on housing and projects could offer opportunity for them to participate. Might be able to buy this stock at $15, but you could even enter now. Dividend of 3.8%. (Analysts’ price target is $22.00)
$17.360

Stock price when the opinion was issued

contractors
It's the ideal tool to help you make quicker, more informed decisions for managing and tracking your investments.

You might be interested:

BUY

This got away from him. He held back because these are long-lead projects and there could be labour and permit issues and delays, and their business depends on contracts, jumping from one to another, instead of a reliable stream. That said, they have a ton of projects on the books and have grown into an infrastructure giant.

BUY

Has more room to run. It trades at a discount to peers. Its backlog has never grown better. They have a nuclear side to their business at Bruce Power. A lot going on and he likes it.

BUY

It's gotten past a lot of its old, fixed-price contracts that really hurt the company for a number of years. ROE is ~9%, at a much lower price-to-book ratio than others. Getting a lot of contracts lately. Prefers this in the space, despite its small $2B market cap.

SELL

Good move recently. Benefiting from capital infrastructure spends in Ontario, and this will continue to increase. Nothing wrong with the name, but there are cheaper plays like ATRL and NOA. See his Top Picks.

DON'T BUY

Recent dip probably not company-specific, whole industrial complex has been hit by tariff scares. A competitor is BDT, with a better financial profile and really good growth profile, so he's more comfortable owning that one.

RISKY
Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research

EPS of 25c missed estimates of 40c; revenue of $1.26B beat estimates of $1.19B. EBITDA of $76.3M missed estimates by 8%. Revenue rose 12%. EPS doubled year over year. ARE said revenue 'will be stronger in 2025'. The stock did get a downgrade on the miss. Considering the already-low valuation, the 16% decline seems overdone, but it is that type of a 'shoot first' market. It is hardly alone in a big decline this week. Backlog is $6.7B, up $500M from the prior year. It is a small cap company with economic risk in a very bad market. It also screwed up last year with a loss on the Skyport sale. Investors are getting tired of the 'bombs' going off on a regular basis. We think in this environment buyers do not need to be in a rush to accumulate. That being said, it was a takeover target once before and this is always a possibility if the shares stay weak. 
Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free

BUY

When it comes to Canadian infrastructure investment, there are some good companies out there and already trading at attractive multiples. And that's before accounting for any additional investments post-election in Canada. 

This name will most likely benefit.

TOP PICK

Stock's come off almost 40% YTD, a real opportunity to get in. Half of its construction projects are linked to utilities. Does a lot of nuclear construction, refurbishment, and ongoing maintenance. So the projects aren't as discretionary. Stock got ahead of itself, but then concerns about economy set in. Yield is 4.48%.

Government announcements abound with infrastructure and nuclear spending. Whether we're in a recession or not, doesn't expect governments to stop spending on transit projects and the like. Lots of opportunity for public and private spending.

(Analysts’ price target is $26.41)
DON'T BUY
Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research

ARE seems to have a never-ending stream of issues that hurts its ability to attract investors. Legacy issues are causing losses. It has noted that 2026 will be better. But....it is quite a small company, momentum is weak, and it is still at 21X earnings. We do not think it is the type of stock to own in the current market environment and we would be comfortable sitting on the sidelines here for a while. 
Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free

TOP PICK

Started dipping in this week. Got almost cut in half from levels late last year. His fundamental analyst likes the potential opportunities. Will probably go up and down quite a bit. As long as it doesn't crack the low point where he was just buying it, then he'll stay in the trade. 

May not make it back to $30, but has some upside. A "spendy" government got in, which means infrastructure, and that's good for this name. Yield is 4.17%.

(Analysts’ price target is $21.82)