Tetra Tech Inc. (TTEK-Q)

One of the major water companies in the US. They do a lot of government work. Have transitioned from all government work 3-4 years ago, into the private sector. That was going fairly well, but about 2 years ago they made a fatal mistake and decided to get into the Canadian mining business just about at the top. This caused all sorts of problems. Also, one of their acquisitions was involved in the construction scandal in Montréal. One of his 2 favourites in the energy field, but he wants to see evidence that they have come to grips in dealing with corporations.

(A Top Pick May 29/13. Down 4.71%.) Sold his holdings when they got into trouble in the Montréal building scam. Also, the mining business slowed down much more than they thought it would.

Had a great run and pulled back. He wants to get in at $27.50. Looking at $1.75 in earnings this year, $2.04 next year, $2.30 the year after, so great growth. They are one of the leaders.

(Top Pick Mar 18/13, Down 4.17%) They bought two or three companies and neither went well. They have now cleaned their act up and he expects them to come back at some point. Waiting for a lower price.

(Top Pick Feb 25/13, Down 1.04%) They got into trouble in Montreal where some of the new employees are link to the scandal. They decided to close down and revamp the office. They took a write-off, so he sold it. It’s knocking on the door again.

(A Top Pick Jan 22/13. Down 0.48%.) Got into some difficulty with their Montréal acquisition, took some substantial write-offs and he sold his holdings. That is now behind them and looking forward he sees earnings of about $1.65-$1.70 and going well into the $2. A little pricey at this point. He would like to see it come back down to $26.

He got out. It is not really pricy at these levels. Would like to re-buy on any weakness.

(A Top Pick Nov 26/12. Up 13.9%.) Were doing very well and then made a bet on the Canadian mining business. Bought 3 companies in Montréal that were very involved in the eastern Canadian mining business and then found that one of the CEOs was very much involved in the Montréal scandals. Have probably fixed the problems quicker than they had expected. Sold his holdings but wouldn’t hesitate to get back in at the right moment.

(A Top Pick August 28/12. Down 9.26%.) Some of their personnel got caught up in the Québec scandals, so he sold his holdings. Also the mining business has slowed down. Once he sees the scandals have been cleaned up and the write-offs have been complete, you can take another look.

Sold his holdings. Loves the company and expects that sometime he will be back in it. Doing wonderful things with making sure water is used efficiently in the fracing area. About a year or 2 ago they bought a company in Montréal when the mining business was a lot better. However, the headman in Montréal was sequestered by the police to talk about the bribery scandals. Company decided to take a massive right off of about $50 million and restructure the business to write down goodwill. There’s a bit more to come.

Bought a company in Montréal that did consulting work for a number of mining companies. Turned out that their Montréal offices were not immune. However, this company has access to recovering finances. Because of this, this year’s earnings ending Sept 30 will be more or less flat but looking out to next year he sees it going up to $2 and $2.34 thereafter. Target price of $32.

Basically a consulting, design and engineering company dealing with all aspects of the environment and water particularly. Started off relying on the US government, which is shrinking rapidly but has expanded its commercial business into Canada, South America and Australia. Commercial business is growing 15 to 20% a year. Has a price target of $35.