Stockchase Opinions

Jim Huang Just Energy Group JE-T DON'T BUY Dec 08, 2016

(Market Call Minute.) This is a risky business model, so he would stay away.

$7.450

Stock price when the opinion was issued

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

You might be interested:

COMMENT

An OK business. It’s a marketer on energy. One of the knocks has been leverage on the balance sheet, so they de-levered the balance sheet over time. However, it is a business that is on a treadmill for life, a lot of churn. Clients leave and you always have to acquire new ones. Prefers, Crius Energy Trust (KWH.UN-T) which trades at a significantly cheaper valuation and gives a 9% yield with a 58% payout ratio. Thinks the market is undervaluing the assets. Also, it has no debt on the balance sheet.

COMMENT

ENB-T vs. JE-T. Ask yourself why you should sell ENB-N. You should not sell it because they have raised the dividend every year. ENB-T is a safe, stable company that grows the dividend and never loses money. They can continue to grow the dividend. JE-T has been a great recovery story, but he would not sell ENB-T to buy JE-T. ENB-T moved their money into the US which everyone wanted to do.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick July 27/16. Down 9.57%.) Was hoping to see a continued turnaround in their business, but they had a softer quarter and he sold his holdings at a loss. Likes the business longer-term, but wants to make sure it is going in the right direction from a quarterly standpoint.

COMMENT

Double down? Hasn’t looked at this for a long time, so can’t give a good opinion. They are trying to diversify in Japan, but who knows if they have the expertise in that. However, he would not double down.

WATCH

Doesn't own it now. Two areas he's watching are their new solar initiatives, and them getting further into Europe. Neither are as strong as he expected. Dividend yield is nearly 9% which has attracted investors, which could be sustainable.

DON'T BUY

He has other recommendations in this space. They have had several issues in the past, including weather reducing demand. They have a new CEO focused on new strategies. With a high dividend, most of the earnings are spoken for and the dividend could be at risk in the next year. Yield 10%.

DON'T BUY

Just Energy vs. Crius: Just's chart hasn't performed well. It trades at a fair 5x EBITDA. Problem with these companies is that they're an energy marketers, but the market believes it better to own the client (producer), not the marketer. You're much better with Cruis: activist investors moved onto the board, better yield, less levereg.

COMMENT

Just energy vs. Crius Energy Trust: Similar companies, valuations and dividends. He prefers Crius because he knows it better and are shifting their client portfolio to more commercial and higher-margin companies. He likes this shift.

DON'T BUY
They sell energy contracts. They have under gone several management changes over the years. He is not a great fan of this business model.