Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO)

(A Top Pick Apr 26/21, Up 27%) One year rate of return not long enough to measure success of investment. Well run company with good management. Second largest convenience store operator in the world. Current equity price represents good value.

A great acquirer. Remarkable story. Huge free cashflow to make acquisitions or buy back stock. The company still sees opportunities. Kicks himself for never buying it. M&A skills outweigh the less robust outlook for the actual business.

Really likes company as valuation is very attractive (15x forward earnings) Expanding global platform. Will buy back shares if cannot find acquisition (good capital manager).

Very well-run company, buying convenience stores at gas stations. We're at the tipping point of mass adoption of e-cars. Big changes are coming. That's his only worry about this story. What will happen to gas demand, when traffic to their stores declines? You can take profits.

ATD.A vs. PKI Couche-Tard is a better company. Parkland has run up, but returns prospectively are lower. Couche-Tard will have better returns going forward, global consolidator of a fragmented industry, profitable, scalable, marketing sophistication. Buy it comfortably here, pullback is a great opportunity.

The gas stations and convenience stores have been under pressure by the environmental groups. Although electric vehicles are coming, it is a very small fleet and will remain small for quite some time. He would continue to hold.

Has a 5 year plan to double the size of the company. Including increasing fresh food offerings, taken from the successful European model. Cigarette and gasoline sales are under pressure. Has run up a lot, so wait for a pullback.

PKI-T vs. ATD.A-T. PKI-T and ATD.A-T are similar but ATD is more focused on convenience stores and PKI is more focused on gas stations. He owns both. PKI is a smaller company and so would not be so protected in a downturn. He thinks they will both continue to do well.

Circle-K is their brand. They are linked to convenience stores and gasoline sales. There has been consolidation in the gasoline retailer space and margins in the space have been great. He would continue to hold.

He sees about 20% upside from here. He would "go to war" with this stock. He would be a buyer here.

They made two massive acquisitions in the US. Two earnings seasons ago they missed it and that affected the stock but that is over. He thinks it is a fantastic business. Great margins. Trading at 14 times next year earnings which is not expensive.

An incredibly well run company. They really are experts at integrating acquisitions. They’ve had big tailwinds over the last 18-24 months, in that as the price of gasoline has fallen steadily, their margins increase and people spend more money on other stuff. Have also cross sold some of their food products. Trading at the high end of its valuation range, but on any pullback this is a core holding.

(A Top Pick Feb 24/14. Up 9.48%.) Nov 1, 2019, 3.19%. At that time, he was a little nervous about rates rising which is why he went for the 5 years. Also, on a spread basis, he thought it looked pretty attractive.

(A Top Pick Feb 24/14. Up 4.09%.) Nov 1, 2019 3.19%. Was trading at a discount just 4 months ago, but is now trading at a nice premium. Still decent to look at, but your yield is getting below 3% right now.

Decent stock. Great way to get European exposure. It will expand and grow going forward. Growth stock that pays a dividend along the way.