Air Canada, Couche-Tard & More at 52-week Highs and Lows (Feb 6-12)

Opinion about AC-T: (A Top Pick Apr 17/25, Up 28.8%)Stockchase Research Editor: Michael O'Reilly Our PAST TOP PICK with AC has achieved its target at $18.  To remain disciplined, we recommend covering half the position at this time and trailing up the stop (from $9) to $13.

Opinion about BIP.UN-T: (A Top Pick Feb 05/24, Up 13%) Surprised it hasn't done better. Still, happy to continue owning. Stock may be off on questions whether assets can still be sold at a premium in a weakening economy. So far, yes. Yield plus growth. Almost 6% yield, and growing.

Opinion about TRI-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research TRI remains one of our favourite conservative-growth companies. It has held up very well in the market meltdown. It does have a premium valuation, but we would still be comfortable buying in the $245 range. Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free

Opinion about WCN-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research WCN continues to chug along nicely. Valuation is high at 36X earnings now, but investors are willing to pay up for reliability. Growth has been very steady and decent growth is very much expected over the next two years. The balance sheet…

Opinion about DRT-T: Customized, prefabricated environmental office interior solutions. High net cash position. Significant upside because of their flexible business model. Surge in office reconfiguration taking place across North America. Top management. No dividend. (Analysts’ price target is $3.46)

Opinion about AP.UN-T: Really likes. Only part of the office space that's any good is luxury. For example, high end in New York is booming. Allied owns buildings that are top level and edgy. Huge conglomerate, giving tenants lots of choice. Unique position. Wonderful development opportunities.Good business, solid financials, great properties, stock's cheap. Dividend's not…

Opinion about BPY.UN-T: Preferred shares. He does invest in some selective preferred shares for some clients with balanced mandates. Unique because BPY.UN used to be a separate, publicly traded company, so you got full transparency. But then Brookfield privatized it, so you don't get the same transparency. But Brookfield has always been a fairly good…

Opinion about CHP.UN-T: CHP.UN vs. CAR.UN CHP.UN is far more defensive. Great portfolio, with about 20% in industrial warehouse space (a sector he's quite bullish on). If you want defense, this is your better bet.With CAR.UN, you have to think about affordability and how defensive is the tenant base and the cashflow from that base.…

Opinion about CRT.UN-T: Over 90% of rents come from Canadian Tire, secure cashflow. Over 99% occupancy. Internal growth has contracted, but this is short-term. Perhaps only 2% capital growth, but a safe distribution. Yield is 6.5%.

Opinion about ECN-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research ECN is, at least, up 58% in the past year (down 16% YTD). Considering its economic exposure and small size, its decline is not really out of line with others. That being said, it is hard to be too bullish here. Consumers…

Opinion about HR.UN-T: Would recommend holding. Majority of portfolio in sunbelt states like Arizona and Texas. Would expect income to increase as more people move to warmer Southern areas. Good balance sheet that allows company to maintain dividend payouts. Expecting better times for company ahead. 

Opinion about KMP.UN-T: Reports on November 5. Now trading at an interesting level, over 15% discount to NAV. Fallen perhaps because of announcement on immigration being curtailed. 60% of portfolio in Atlantic Canada, actively diversifying in Ontario and BC. Likes that 44% of assets are not subject to rent control. Expecting results to be good.…

Opinion about NVU.UN-T: It is a subject of a takeover and you might consider holding it until the close of the take out transaction. You could also move to another apartment REIT. Your upside is capped from here with NVU.UN-T.

Opinion about SMU.UN-T: (A Top Pick Sep 28/22, Up 45%) Got taken out. Traded at a 25% discount in a sector that was in high demand.

Opinion about SRT.UN-T: This would be a hold for him, if not a sell. It has US grocery stores in small centres. It has an external management contract, which he feels is not in alignment with share holders.

Opinion about SUM-T: (A Top Pick Jun 14/18, Up 59%) It is another example of an undervalued tech company in Canada. It was taken out by MS-N just over a month ago.

Opinion about FSV-T: Loves what management is doing. Slower US economy and high interest rates have slowed home-related businesses. Reported very strong earnings and strong guidance, stock pulled back (not sure why). Excited by the long-term runway.

Opinion about NXR.UN-T: Pretty good job transitioning to pure-play industrial, but some worry about capital allocation. Trades at a higher discount than peers. He wants more liquidity and concentrated in key markets. Better risk/reward in larger entities with more liquidity. See his Top Picks.

Opinion about ATD.B-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research EPS of 68c matched estimates; sales of $20.90B missed estimates of $21.21B. EBITDA of $1.64B beat estimates by 3%. Supply-chain optimization could let Couche-Tard maintain fuel profitability across its key markets for the rest of the fiscal year. US fuel margins declined…

Opinion about L-T: Has held in remarkably well; considered a defensive name when markets turn volatile with risk of economic slowdown. Traffic gravitated to its discount banners. Pharmacists' roles have expanded at SDM, which also helps drive traffic. Plans to open more pharmacy-based clinics across Canada. Executing very well. Not inexpensive at 22x forward PE,…

Opinion about QSR-T: (A Top Pick May 02/24, Down 4%)Reports tomorrow. Trades at 20x EBIT over EBITDA, about normal. Shares are below a declining 200-day MA, but still above 200-week MA. Rising input costs of labour and commodities, as well as competition, have really held shares back. Question of saturation in Canada. Challenge to scale…

Opinion about NWC-T: (A Top Pick Oct 28/24, Down 15%) It's rangebound. He bought it closer to the bottom, but hasn't risen as hoped. He'd trade at $6. He'll give it the benefit of the doubt, unless it falls beneath support. He's collecting a nice 8% dividend, though.

Opinion about FTS-T: She likes this name, mainly because of its geographic diversification. Also has more US utilities than peers, growing just a little bit faster.

Opinion about PEGI-T: A good dividend play. The yield is at 4.6%. People tend to focus on the tech side of green stocks, but this has utilities that have consistent income. They are a potential takeover target for Brookfield so the price has recently shot up. Could get decent returns.

Opinion about VNR-T: A lot of success is tied to Gaz Metro in Québec, but they also have some wind farms that have recently come online in the last year or 2, and giving good returns to the company. Recent earnings were solid and they raised the dividend by 3.7%, and plan to raise it…

Opinion about GIB.A-T: Global operations; with Canada representing ~15% of revenue, US ~30%, 44-45% in Europe and UK. Outsourcing (~55% of the business) has long-term contracts, so that's defensive and not as cyclical. Consulting side tends to be more economically sensitive. Stock's pulled back ~17% from highs in February. About 14% of revenue is from doing…

Opinion about SHOP-T: Look at the 5-year chart. The peak in 2021 concerns him on valuation. Not surprising that it came into resistance when it entered a similar window earlier this year. Likes buying dips, don't chase here.

Opinion about ABST-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research. The stock drifted along under $12 through 2022 to August when it moved up to about $16 which held to the start of November when it fell to its month-end close of $13.24. ABST is a leading provider of self-healing endpoint and…

Opinion about KL-T: (A Top Pick Feb 25/21, Up 15.3%)Stockchase Research Editor: Michael O’Reilly With the recent completed acquisition by AEM now official, we now consider this position closed. When combined with the previous recommendation to cover half the position, this results in a net investment gain of 22%.

Opinion about SSRM-T: One of the most senior producers of silver. Silver is better than gold, as the bulk of silver production comes from copper mines. Silver just crossed $24, and there's lots of upside. SSRM has a $28 price target. He wants something that will benefit once inflation is realized.

Opinion about SLAU-X: An interesting one. Brazil. They have some high-grade veins that they have done some work on. They are drilling and it will prove it one way or the other. There will be lots of entry points coming up.

Opinion about PSA-T: De-risking 40% of a portfolio at age 59. Likes the idea of PSA. TLT, he believes, is a leveraged play on the bond market and wouldn't do that. BNS high interest savings, for example, pays 4.75% for optionality and no risk. For an ETF filled with 1-year bonds that's very low risk, look…

Opinion about XRE-T: Challenging to own REITs in Canada. The 5-year return is slightly negative, even including dividends. Some names in it make sense, some don't. Cumulative inflation has hurt REI.UN, the second-largest holding. Softness in Canadian economy. 5- and 10-year yields are moving higher, and REITs are very sensitive to higher rates because of their…

Opinion about XSH-T: In a rising rate environment, you might want to stick to a shorter term. XSH is a short-term, corporate, investment-grade ETF. Had drawdowns, but not as bad as a typical aggregate bond or high-yield ETF.

Opinion about XUT-T: ZWU question Utilities are a very low-volatility sector, so the premiums are lower compared to oil/gas. He suggests holding both this and ZWU-T. Utilities are a top sector, because valuations are so reasonable (hard to find that in this market). ZWU will give you covered calls, but XUT will give you upside.…

Opinion about PMIF-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research PMIF is a more active fixed income fund designed to be adapt the portfolio to market conditions. We think fixed income funds in general can be good options offering low-risk, predictable cash flows which offer a diversification from equities. While returns have…

Opinion about ZJK-T: Have seen an expansion in the spreads, which means the credit risk has caused the bonds to deteriorate in price. Second-largest high-yield ETF in Canada. MER is 61 bps. Acts more like equity because of the types of companies that tend to issue high-yield debt, but it has more yield too. While…

Opinion about QBR.B-T: (A Top Pick Jan 23/24, Up 3%) Benefiting from the Freedom Mobile purchase. Able to expand in Ontario and Western Canada without deploying too much capex. Very high ROE and free cashflow, allowing them to lower debt and obtain investment-grade rating on bonds. Aggressively buying back shares. Best-performing telecom stock this year.

Opinion about SJR.B-T: It comes down to the Rogers deal, which the street thinks will happen, but this is the fourth deadline extension. The deal has been priced into shares, so there isn't much upside. Better to buy Rogers or Telus than Shaw.

Opinion about BKX-T: Shale gas in the US. A spin out from Bankers Petroleum (BNK-T). There is a lot of potential excitement but it just doesn't have the same management quality team. Just too risky in the market at this point.

Opinion about CPG-T: Great company. Looking at the chart, big wall of resistance it just couldn't get through. Then it broke out. If you own it, hold. If it pulls back to the neckline, he'd be all over it.

Opinion about EGL-T: He stayed away because they went to the states to make acquisitions. He did not know why the Americans would not already take these assets. He stays away from it.

Opinion about MTL-T: Grown by acquisition quite steadily over the years. Very good company and it won't hurt you, but he owns TFII instead.

Opinion about PIPE-T: Better names in market.Will face issue of paper sellers with recent sale.Shares not cheap enough.

Opinion about MPVD-T: Sees no change to the dividend theory. The 3 Irish business millionaires actually control the company and are holding it long-term for the dividends. The company has some costs going on disadvantaging it. The diamond sector itself has not produced really stellar performance. This is a “wait and see”.

Opinion about NMX-T: They have a done a deal with a private equity company, effectively taking the company private. Their hard rock lithium project is challenged due to the infrastructure constraints -- including rail and power. They needed more money, creating an opportunity for the private equity company.

Opinion about BTR-X: It looks interesting, but is too small for his funds. It has under-performed for the past few years. They are in the right place at the right time, but we need to see some good drill results soon.

Opinion about IFOS-X: Billy Kawasaki’s Insights - Billy’s most-liked answers from 5i Research. They have been growing their top-line quickly over the last quarters. Net profit margins are improving. Although debt is quite elevated, they have cash balances and equity positions that are decent. Valuation is cheap and future growth estimates are good.A smaller size…

Opinion about EIL-X: He covers the stock and owns it. The business is doing well. They are a leader in their space. There was a big investor out of China that fell on hard times and has had to sell shares. It may be poised for a turnaround.

Opinion about GQM-T: Has an old mine outside of Los Angeles that was run in the 1930s. Closed down during the Second World War and they are doing open pit mining in the area. Has some issues, but at these gold prices, it will probably start to work again. Under followed. Highly speculative.

Opinion about PL-T: They made wood pellets which are used in biomass generation facilities. He has owned this, but it's volatile due to management and operational issues. Wood pellets are vulnerable to fire, which is what happened last year. Their backlog in Japan and Korea is robust is good, but he doesn't like their concentration…

Opinion about SII-T: Most investors need some help investing in natural resources. Sprott is a brand name for natural resources, in physical trusts and in equities management. You get the same diversification as a mutual fund, except they pay you a dividend instead of you paying them a fee. That's pretty good math 😉  Yield…

Opinion about DM-X: It is now focusing on Mobile EV charging. It had previously sold Covid test kits. Has a $32 million market cap. It is a difficult business to make money in, is not profitable, and there are better options. (Analysts’ price target is $0.12)

Opinion about ENA-X: A play that could be triple / quadruple. Optical chips for next, next generation. 100 Gig data rates. High risk.

Opinion about HGD-T: Where you talk about a bear or bull ETF that is levered, they have no future. You are supposed to trade them on a day to day basis or possible a weekly basis. They are guaranteed to lose over the long term because of the way the gains are translated over night.…

Opinion about HNU-T: You only want to use this as a short-term vehicle for a seasonal trade. Not a buy-and-hold.Disclosure:  He works for Global X (formerly Horizons).