TFI International Inc (TFII.TO)

It is a trucking company. The stock had come down. The sector is doing quite well. They have a lot of cross border business and NAFTA changes could affect them. Also they lose business as AMZN-Q expands and takes trucking in-house. He passed on it when he last analyzed it.

Had a kind of a lousy 2017. Going back long-term, this has been an amazing company, and the CEO has been a terrific allocator of capital. They disappointed their guidance a little in 2017, but the street is looking for a really good 2018. He could see it trading at 17 or 18 times earnings. He is buying this hand over fist for new clients.

This is trucking. Doesn’t think it is going to have the best quarter because of the hurricanes, although it looks like business has picked up, so they should do quite well. They move a lot of goods between Canada and the US. Trucking has been weak in the 1^st two quarters and it looks like things have improved a great deal. The company is significantly undervalued. The CEO is brilliant, and has a terrific plan of unlocking value. He buys shares back when prices are low.

(Formerly TransForce Inc.) One of the best capital allocators in Canada. This is in trucking which is cyclical. What he likes is the packaging/courier business. They are one of the largest same day deliverers of e-commerce products, working with Google and Amazon. The stock has pulled back about 15% this year. Truck spot pricing has firmed up recently. They keep buying back stock at these levels. Dividend yield of 2.5%. (Analysts’ price target is $34.)

The CEO is an accountant, and likes cash flow, and is a capital allocator. The US truckload market has been under pressure for the last couple of years, and he went into that market, made a big acquisition and found some stuff that wasn’t so good. The company was under-investing in equipment which increases costs. Also, had some bad contracts which increased costs. Sees some good signs that the US truckload market is stabilizing. The CEO has been buying back a lot of stock, and that is going to be good over the next few years. Dividend yield of 2.5%. (Analysts’ price target is $34.)

The biggest player in the trucking industry in Canada, and one of the bigger ones in North America. He doesn’t like the trucking space at all. There are very low barriers to entry. A very competitive industry. (See Top Picks.)

Transforce, the trucking company. A number of analysts downgraded it for the first quarter. We saw preannounced lousy results from US truckers recently. He thinks that at the end of the day, since they are very good capital allocators, that this will be a gift from the gods. 14 times PE.

This does full truckloads as well as partial loads and e-commerce deliveries. It is in every facet of the delivery business. One of the leaders in its sector. Dividend yield of 2.15%. (Analysts’ price target is $34.89.)

(A Top Pick April 5/16. Up 54.8%.) A really, really good business. Just sold his holdings, not because there was anything wrong with the business, but there is just less upside going forward and he needed capital for other investments. Fully valued now.

A great stock, and he is looking at it very, very closely. It ranks really well in his model. He likes that it makes acquisitions that the market isn’t fully appreciative of. Trading at about 12.5X forward expectations. The US transport stocks have really rallied, and some of them are trading at 15-18 times earnings. Feels this has pretty good upside here.

Has been pretty happy with the performance this year; it is up about 14%. This is in the shipping/trucking business. They do trucking as well as packaging and couriering. They have a division out West which is moving equipment for oil/gas. Recently sold their garbage division and used the cash to buy back shares. He is still buying this for clients.

(Top Pick Aug 14/15, Up 11.14%) There is a good opportunity to cut costs. He likes it but does not own it any more. He moved on.

A really smart operator in a really bad industry. Trucking is not a good business, but their ability to basically outsource the trucks and trailers from Saputo (SAP-T) about 20 years ago, turned it into the business that we see today. Management has done a phenomenal job by running a slightly better business than everybody else, in a terrible industry. Today it is about an 11% free cash flow yield on 2017, with M&A potential. Good management.

(A Top Pick Aug 14/15. Up 2.95%.) Sold this to move into CNR (CNR-T). He continues to like the company. They are doing a good job in their acquisition and consolidation strategy, and pay a decent yield. Still a Hold.

(A Top Pick July 2/15. Down 5.23%.) A consolidator in a very fragmented industry. Trucking rates have been weak, which has held them back. He still thinks there are legs on this story. Dividend yield of 2.9%.