Boyd Group Services Inc. (BYD.TO)

Businesses in the US. 325 collision repair shops. Insurance companies like to deal with a larger company. There are lots of M&A opportunities for them. They are professional managers of the shops.

A consolidator of auto body shops. Have done a really good job. In the last quarter, same store sales were up over 5.5%. Good management. Very conservative. Majority of their revenues comes from the US. This is one of those stories where you can sleep well at night, as operations have gone extremely well over the years.

(A Top Pick March 28/14. Up 36.96%.) This is a play on the US, so a much healthier geography. Most of their acquisitions were made last year in the US. She still thinks there are lots of good acquisitions for them.

Auto repairs. Their brand, both in Canada and the US, has been able to take a good concept and expand it through both organic growth and acquisition. Dividend yield of 1.04%.

Collision repairs, etc. They are highly acquisitive. If you own and have enough stock, consider taking some profits.

Another great consolidation story. Has hung in here really well, compared to AutoCanada (ACQ-T). The auto body business is very fragmented and there continues to be lots of room. Management has done a great job of integrating the acquisitions. On his radar screen for his growth fund.

A superb company. Had owned, but it had gotten expensive. He is looking at potentially going back into this. This is at least a Hold and probably a Buy.

(A Top Pick Dec 10/13. Up 46.86%.) They have continued with rolling up collision repair shops, so each acquisition that they make, they bring it under the fold and immediately the insurance companies start sending business to the new shops. Because of this, same-store sales go up immediately. Also, the freezing cold winter created a lot of collisions.

(A Top Pick Sept 27/13. Up 66.24%.) Still loves this. One of the few high-growth companies that didn’t disappoint on the bottom line. Renegotiated the deal on paint supplying, so you can expect better margins for the next few quarters as the cheaper paint supply gets through to their bottom line.

A couple of directors sold large chunks of shares and the stock came down about $6. At that point, this should have been bought by people who don’t own it. This is a perpetual, which he thinks is just going to carry on. 1% dividend yield.

(A Top Pick in June 21/13. Up 95.29%.) Most of their business is in the US, but have just started moving into Ontario with a couple of acquisitions. Have done a great job with collision and glass centres in the US. Still likes this.

(A Top Pick Dec 10/13. Up 53.01%.) This thing is a juggernaut. Fantastic story. A rollup of a really, really boring business of auto bodies/collision services. Had a great quarter which really sent the stock up. Winter storms create more accidents. They are acquiring more and more of the mom-and-pop shops.

One of those stocks that we could kick ourselves for missing. Up about 30X in the last 5-6 years. Gives you exposure to the US economy if you want that, because most of their business is in the US. There is a bit of a dilemma here in that they do auto repairs, and with an improving economy, people are going to buy new cars, so the auto repair business might go down a bit. However, there is also a lot of collision work. A “growth through acquisition” company that has done quite well.

Very impressive. Could easily get punched up a bit by the wild excitement in AutoCanada (ACQ-T). It is not the same thing of course but it is something that is able to build a chain of things associated with the motor industry, which is going gang busters. He would expect this to continue without any problems.

(A Top Pick March 22/13. Up 83.33%.) Consolidation of collision repair shops. Now predominantly in the US, this is a much larger market. Still not anywhere near in all the states so have a lot of running room ahead of them. Just renegotiated the paint contract to a lower price, which will flow through to the margins this year.