Propel Holdings (PRL.TO)

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.

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.

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.

It is an online lending platform. It is not in his data base. The host pointed out that it is up 60% in the past year, pays a 2% dividend, has a $1.5 million market cap and uses AI.

Is approaching its last high of February around $42. Would like to see it break above that, because a stock can always break down. It's actually better to buy higher.

Definitely. On the chart you can see the cup and the handle. Good pattern for buying, and that's happening. Stock's going higher. Great-looking pattern. He can see upside to the mid-$40s.

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)

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.

Impressive management team, very aggressive. Earnings have shot up, and the outlook continues to do so. Economic uncertainty is a reason to be afraid. There's more noise in the economy than actual downside. Not a high-quality dividend paying stock. OK for an aggressive investor.

Very fast-growing. Fear is that if we enter a recession, how many of the borrowers won't be able to pay back loans? That's a risk. With other things on sale, he'd pass. Management's done a spectacular job.

Great company and management. Delivers very good risk-adjusted returns, very high ROE. Likes that they can reprice loans at a very fast rate. Need to see additional diversification of funding sources; if so, would warrant a higher multiple. UK acquisition highly accretive, which will play out over 12-24 months.

Pullback is unwarranted, good time to buy. Concern about credit quality, but so far credit experience has been good. 

Pretty solid earnings, most metrics better than expected. Missed core EPS by 2 cents. Growth names are really getting smashed here as people pull out. Enormous ability to grow, nothing wrong with it. Trades at 6x 2025 PE, with 35% growth rate.

In recessions or growth scares, people have less ability to pay back loans. So a company's PCLs are a concern. 90% of its business is in the US right now. Growing in Canada and in the UK. 

If we go into a recession (but he doesn't think we are), this name is probably going to get worse. A really good name given the setup right now on valuation, execution, and the market. If you own it in a non-registered account, try to buy more.

Non-prime lending is a tough business. Canada has capped interest rates on how much you can charge. They have to charge a lot to make any money. PRL has grown a lot since going public a few years ago. They raised their dividend many times. Shares climbed to $40, then sank in recent months, though their business has not changed. Why? Fundamentals are sound. Perhaps there are fears of loan defaults. But during recessions, they get more clients, people desperate for loans. Caveat: shares go down with the market in a recession. Dividend and growth are okay. The valuation is down to a low and is attractive.

Significant pullback, especially on Q4 results and softer guidance. But revenue and net income still up. Fintech is shaking up the finance world. Not a giant in the space like a PYPL, but a longer-term rising star. Leader in the space of lending to the underserved consumer. Economic uncertainties will be a challenge.

The dip might well be worth grabbing for growth. On her watchlist.

It's had a great run, but could underperform if we get a global recession, based on what Trump is doing. He wants to see this company go through one complete business cycle before considering it. Recent performance has been great, though.