George Weston Ltd. (WN.TO)

WN vs. L A bit like splitting hairs. Weston controls Loblaw. When you buy Weston, you get 95% Loblaw and 5% bakery. A great business. A buy and hold through the cycles. If you get a rip roaring cyclical market, it will probably lag. High single digit or low double digit return. He doesn't like the bakery, so Loblaw gets the nod.

Owns Loblaw and real estate. This will track how Loblaw is doing. Supermarkets soared during the spring lockdown and will thrive during more lockdowns unfortunately. He prefers Kroger (American), because of its online and home delivery. It's okay to hold onto Weston. He's ambivalent.

One of the few companies with good newss--people are cleaning out the shelves at Loblaw (and other supermarkets). Shoppers will stay open early for seniors. During worry about the Choice REIT not getting its rent from Loblaw. After a few years of turning around, Weston is improving and coming out with better sales. (Analysts’ price target is $124.00)

(A Top Pick Aug 22/18, Up 10%) They also have the bakery side of the business where they have invested a lot into the business. A lot of it depends on L-T plus exposure to CHP.UN-T. He would highly recommend it at $100. They are the dominant player in the Canadian grocery business.

They just bought Choice Properties reit from Loblaw in a complicated deal. This creates a lot of cash flow that will likely go towards M&A. He suspects WN will invest in healthcare to synergize with the supermarkets. The bakeries, though, make up only 6% of the business and he's not thrilled by them.

This is basically owned by the Weston family, who has a long time horizon. In the longer term the stock will do okay. It is a well operated company, but does not have the growth profile they look for to invest in.

He usually invests in small-to-midcap companies, but he likes this one and owns a small position. The price has been dropping and he sees this as a good entry point. They have a lot of excess capital, which he expects them to deploy in the back half of the year. His guess is they will expand financial services -- PC Financial -- rather than retail. They have been growing PC Financial and he expects an acquisition in that space.