George Weston Ltd. (WN.TO)

A slow and steady consumer staples name. Technically it has done well, moving up and meandering higher in the last little while. In the last 12 months, it is up about 10%. Decent technical moves. A bit expensive, trading at about 17X FE, and growing at about 7%. PEG ratio to growth is a bit higher at about 2.4X, which would concern him. He would prefer Metro (MRU-T) or Loblaw’s (L-T). Dividend yield of about 1.6%.

(Top Pick Mar 5/15, Up 12.74%) It is trying to break out now. Pretty good volume. He likes what they have done in the last two years. He is keeping his position.

He is trying to position his portfolio somewhat defensively given the volatility he is seeing in Canada. This has a relatively strong balance sheet with a lot of cash, along with the bakery business where they can potentially unlock some of the value. Dividend yield of 1.66%.

Doesn’t own this, but does own Loblaw’s (L-T), their major underlying asset. By default, she would be accumulating this one at these levels. Grocers tend to source a lot of their fresh goods from the US, and the squeeze on margins can’t easily be passed through.

L-T heavily invested in an ERP system, then digested Shoppers as part of their turnaround. But WN-T also has the bakery business which is private. There has been heavy investment in that. It has been hugely undervalued. He thinks in 2016 you will see a higher dividend than L-T and less investment so it should outperform L-T.

(Top Pick Oct 31/14, Up 21.02%) It is in a good space and is a well run company. Canada bread and shoppers are very good acquisitions.

If you are a short term trader, 40% is hallelujah. .However, it could easily pull back to $105. If you are a long term investor see the report he wrote at info@ phases-cycles.com. If you are an investor hang onto it. Long term it is a great stock.

He likes this company. The largest component is Loblaw’s (L-T) which is doing very well right now. As of late, the performance of Weston has lagged, so he thinks there is a real opportunity in that the bakery business and their other operations seem to be doing a little bit better, and are primarily located in the US. They own a significant portion of assets in the US and have a very rich balance sheet with lots of cash. Have been known over the years to occasionally pay a large special dividend. He thinks it can go up from here.

Basically the parent company for Loblaw’s (L-T) and Shoppers as well as bakery operations. Loblaw’s has been doing well and their integration of Shoppers is almost done. They have the investment in the IT structure which is almost done. The rest of their holdings of bakery, real estate, etc. have been trading at a very low valuation. At the current level, this could probably double if it went back to its historical range. Dividend yield of 1.61%.

New IPOs on preferred shares? There are a number of dynamics at work here, particularly with preferred shares. On an acceleration in interest rates, preferred shares are going to suffer some capital loss and you want to protect yourself as best you can. You can look at those that are very close to their reset date if you think a rise in rates is imminent. However, that is a guessing game. Recently this company just did a perpetual preferred issue, which he hasn’t seen in some time. This is where the interest rate is actually fixed. It is redeemable by 2020, but you know that the 5% yield is fixed.

George Weston (WN-T), Loblaw’s (L-T) or Empire (EMP.A-T)? Of these 3 Loblaw’s would be her preferred vehicle. This company owns about 49% of it.

(A Top Pick April 7/14. Up 24.73%.) He still likes this. Now that Loblaw’s (L-T) has Shoppers he can see it being even more dynamic. This is a cash cow and they have a lot of cash on the books. On any kind of a big dip down, he would probably acquire more.

(A Top Pick May 8/14. Up 28.16%.) A family controlled a company that is run for the benefit of all shareholders. Over the years he has seen them pay a special dividend from time to time. Very cash rich. An excellent way to participate in the turnaround that we are seeing at Loblaw’s (L-T).

This is a holding company for Loblaw’s (L-T), and holding companies generally trade at a discount to the underlying assets. This trades at 17X earnings while Loblaw’s trades at 18 or 19 times earnings. Dividend yields are very close. You could own either one of these as it doesn’t matter that much in the long run.

(A Top Pick April 7/14. Up 29.88%.) A really good business. With all the good brands under one roof such as Shoppers, Loblaw’s, Weston’s, it is really a good investment to hold. Has a good war chest. Really good management. He has a target of close to $130 on it.