Stock price when the opinion was issued
Loans mostly in the US, also a Canadian division. Recent UK acquisition. Last week, refinanced debt at substantially lower rate and upsized it. Now has lots of firepower at a lower rate. Growth, nice dividend, trades at 7x PE. Consensus growth for Q1 is 40%. Extremely well run, management owns a ton of stock. For him, a must-own. Yield is 2.27%.
(Analysts’ price target is $40.50)
Management's done fantastic job on execution. Really accelerated growth. Uses AI both to generate leads and to analyze them for loans, which helps reduce bad loans. Growing organically, plus made UK acquisition. US is their big market. High insider ownership. Starting to see market breadth broadening for small caps in Canada.
Likes the longer-term chart. His team's fundamental analyst likes it as well. We're right near that first support level of $30, with major support around $20 (back up the truck). If it goes below that, then be concerned.
If you're worried, reduce a bit. Let the market go through its corrective phase, and then look to add back. Another 2 years left in the cyclical bull market we're in; if so, this one should continue to run. Benefits from economy doing well.
Two stories here. Long term, the Canadian financial sector has been so consolidated for so long that it's left some openings in terms of digital offerings. We're quite behind the US in this.
Short-medium term, how is the Canadian credit situation? Haven't seen the credit story deteriorate yet. But need to keep an eye as mortgage renewals come through and tariffs dampen NA consumers' spending. A better entry point will likely show up.
His firm is very conservative, prefers to have exposure through larger, better-capitalized dividend payers. But companies like this one do take market share, so it's something he'd probably look at in future as it becomes more established.
90% of business is in the US, so it's insulated from tariffs. He understands that they've been hiring, even in this tough environment. Growth name, which can get really smashed when there's concern about darker economic times. Holding up pretty well. Trades at a very reasonable 6.6x 2026 PE, growing at 41%. AI-powered lender. UK acquisition is accretive.
Incremental buy.