Stock price when the opinion was issued
Surprisingly, hasn't met his goals for return performance. But starting points do matter, and it ran up dramatically prior to pandemic, so maybe it got a little pricey. Restoration business suffered due to good weather. Long-term thesis. Serial acquirer. ("Genius") founder run and owned.
First bought in 1998. It had a simple strategy, and was overlooked in the market. Over 26 years, has executed its strategy bigger and bigger -- buy into a new market, buy a business that fits in, build that position. Repeat. Grows at 4% per annum, and a further 15% or so a year because cash generated is not needed to maintain the business.
Really well run, very good compounder. Likes the business, always on his watchlist, but it always trades as such a rich valuation. Strong growth profile, but valuation exceeds it. If you can get it at the right price, hold for a long time because huge runway ahead.
Largely insulated from tariffs, as services take place locally whether Canada or US. Only hiccup would be if housing materials were hit by tariffs; still, labour costs (not subject to tariffs) are the bulk of renovation expenses. Would be sensitive, however, to a broader economic turndown.
They run gated communities and apartment buildings in the U.S. Trades at 24x earnings, so expensive, but their growth justifies that. It's capital-lite (few expenditures) business which is good. They've been growing at double-digits, growing organically at 7%, making acqusitioning along the way to further add to earnings. They occupy only 20% of the market (as the largest player), so there's lots of room to expand. Strong earnings growth in past quarters. (Analysts’ target: $91.25)