This week’s new 52-week highs and lows … (Jan 30-Feb 5)

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 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 AEZS-T: Rather bad couple of days. Was down substantially, outside of a range. Consolidated. It broke down and is more likely to go down. $1.50 on the downside.

Opinion about SIA-T: Demographics is a huge tailwind. LTC component is a steady business and government-controlled; transitioning a bit away from this. Canada-only. The 85+ demographic is expected to triple in the next 25 years. Yield is 5.6%. (Analysts’ price target is $18.58)

Opinion about AQN-T: Working to transition to a pure-play utility, still holding onto small (3%) renewable hydro assets. New CEO and management team doing good job so far. Most utilities are in the US, with staggered and ongoing rate reset price increases. Likes it.

Opinion about CPX-T: A bit volatile. Not a regulated distribution utility, it's a power generator. Divested from coal, now predominantly nat gas. Mostly in Alberta, a bit in US. Ran up (way too much) in 2024 due to vague rumours of data centres being built in Alberta; be cautious until we hear more.She'd rather own…

Opinion about NPI-T: Power generator with consistent and concrete growth. Currently building 3 projects, on time and on budget, should come online in 2027.

Opinion about EMA-T: (A Top Pick Feb 05/24, Up 34%) Largest distribution utility is in Florida, where population growth has soared since pandemic. Regulator in Florida is easy to deal with. Diversified. Benefits from a risk-off mentality in the market.

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 CCA-T: (A Top Pick Dec 19/23, Up 29%) Allowed to hop on Wi-Fi networks of the other telcos, so it's becoming a more asset-light business. Passes through higher margins, and can continue to grow dividend more than 10% a year.

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 EMP.A-T: The ultimate winner in inflation. Tough business, low margins, competitive. He owns COST. Loblaw is well run, as are MRU and EMP.A

Opinion about FOOD-T: (A Top Pick Apr 28/21, Down 67.4%) Are building online grocery sales now. When he recommended it, he expected another leg up--and shares rose last summer on good numbers. But he sold this around $10 because he was concerned the company was no longer focusing on meal kits and was spending a…

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 RSI-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research RSI beat EPS estimates of 13c coming in at 14c. Revenue also beat estimates of $304.7M coming in at $333.03M increasing 10% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA was $141.6M up 28% year-over-year. The quarterly and full-year results look solid, with increasing sales driven by…

Opinion about CCO-T: Think of it as a core position in a Canadian context. Uranium has really come into its own. Outside of speculative companies, is the best low-cost producer. Nuclear servicing via Westinghouse purchase. Not something you need to jump into with both feet today.

Opinion about ENB-T: (A Top Pick Apr 30/24, Up 38%) We now have a gateway to Asia. With tariffs, Canadian energy will not be welcome in the US. Integrated nature of its pipelines make it a long-term asset with growth capabilities that will reward shareholders well. Buy when it goes on sale, trim any gains.…

Opinion about PPL-T: Integrated across the entire value chain, from well head to end user. Earns revenue every step of the way for gas and oil molecules. 80-90% of earnings are contracted, and that's what the dividend is based on. Working on really big (for them) LNG export facility off coast of BC. Likes growth. 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 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 GRT.UN-T: (A Top Pick Apr 16/24, Down 6%) 26% of net operating income is from MG, so being impacted by tariffs. He calls this a second-derivative target of tariffs. Shares are trading as though MG is going to move its operations to the US, but he doesn't think it's equipped to do so.

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 FCR-T: Pre-eminent portfolio in the space. Necessity-based real estate in Canada's urban centres, with half in Toronto. Already owns future development space. Near peak occupancy, so there's potential for positive inflection in retail rents. Good growth prospects, at 25% discount to NAV. Yield is 5.14%. (Analysts’ price target is $20.02)

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 IIP.UN-T: Owns shares in business. Current share price a very good time to buy. Would recommend being patient, and holding for the long term. 

Opinion about REI.UN-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research Cash flow per unit of 49c beat estimates of 45c; leasing spreads improved and same property net operating income rose. But it did take a $209M writedown on Hudson Bay and trimmed its guidance because of it (by 4c per unit). This…

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 SRU.UN-T: Very defensive income profile. Main anchor is WMT, and the flipside of that stability means internal rent growth is quite low. Not a lot of earnings growth. Attractive yield in low 7% range, but high payout ratio. Better retail opportunities elsewhere.

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 STC-T: The chart shows a massive spike up, massive drop, and now recovery in the past year.  They likely paid too much for a company in 2022 and were trading at a high PE. He had added shares in 2023-4 after a new CEO started bundling products, focus on margins and integrated companies.…

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 LIF-T: He'd consider owning. People are on the sidelines because iron ore is used to make steel, and tariffs have been slapped on. Tremendous compounder over 2 decades; high teens total shareholder return, mostly from dividends. Dividend is highly variable, though reliable, current yield is ~6.7%. To get a sense of the actual…

Opinion about SSL-T: Mistakes in capital deployment were made about 3 years ago. Believes Turkiye mine will go into production, and cashflow will really change this company. Now using FCF to pay down debt rapidly. Either share price goes up, or company is taken over.

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 GZZ-X: Company prospects for land, stakes it and then gets other companies to do the major work at their expense. Because they have so many properties, long-term they should get a discovery.

Opinion about PGM-X: $2.25 price target. Growing pains starting up a mine. He'd be averaging down. Issues always signal a really good entry point at cheap valuations. Have to be patient. This wouldn't be his only holding; he'd own it amongst at least 5-10 companies.

Opinion about ASR-T: The 3rd largest holding in his portfolio. They have seen the mines in Turkey and were impressed. The area is a danger zone with recent fighting and the stock has taken a hit. The mine is far enough away from the fighting so he thinks it will not be impacted. He paid…

Opinion about DPM-T: Dundee is nowhere as large as Barrick, Franco Nevada or Agnico Eagle, which comprise a third of the Canadian materials sector, but it has outperformed it so far in 2024. Dundee shares have rallied 8.5% in this time period while Barrick is down over 16%. Also, Dundee holds more potential upside. Consensus…

Opinion about SSL-T: Mistakes in capital deployment were made about 3 years ago. Believes Turkiye mine will go into production, and cashflow will really change this company. Now using FCF to pay down debt rapidly. Either share price goes up, or company is taken over.

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 XFR-T: Current yield of 5%. You want floating rates in your portfolio when yields are going up, as it mitigates the negative impact of prices changing. The floating nature means the coupons can set a lot more frequently than would a 10-year bond.If you think about a series of 3-month bonds or other…

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 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 ZLB-T: Portfolio of low-beta stocks. Consumer staples, some financials, utilities. MER is 39 bps, not exactly cheap but not overly expensive. For the investor looking for dividends plus a low ride in the equity market. Consumer staples and utilities in Canada aren't cheap right now, as people flock to safety. At some point, investors…

Opinion about ZUT-T: ZWU vs. ZUT ZWU holds Canadian utilities, writes covered calls on ~50% of the portfolio. Use it if you have a neutral or range-bound view of the Canadian utilities market. If you buy near market bottom, won't participate as much in the snap-back.If you see growth and capital appreciation on the horizon,…

Opinion about CMR-T: Stock vs. Stock. FIE-T vs. CMR-T. CMR-T is a money market fund. FIE-T is a multi holding income strategy holding all kinds of assets, so there will be more volatility. When markets are up go into CMR-T and FIE-T when they are down.

Opinion about HFR-T: It holds ultra-short term investment-grade bonds. MER is 40 basic points. The chart was smooth pre-COVID, then plunged 20% during the sell-off, then recovered. When times are calm, they act like bonds. When risk spikes in a crisis, there's volatility. This falls in line with your equities. He's surprised this had this…

Opinion about XSI-T: He doesn’t know this, but assumes it is an actively managed bond fund. If so, the question you are going to have is the duration of the bond fund at any given time. You can usually get that information from the people who market this ETF. If you have a duration of…

Opinion about ZFH-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research We would be comfortable with ZFH. Floating rate bonds, of course, may see lower distributions if rates fall, but do offer protection in the opposite scenario. Indicated yield is 5.64% and one year return +8.48%. We would consider it a solid, fairly…

Opinion about ZRE-T: CGR vs. ZRE vs. VRE CGR is a global REIT play. ZRE is an equal-weight REIT play. VRE is market-cap weighted.There isn't a right way, one's not better than another. Looking back in history, in Canada the equal weight has been better than market-cap weighted. That's as a result of some of…

Opinion about ZWU-T: This is a safer way to hold Enbridge, which this ETF holds. This holds diverse dividend payers from Canada and the US in utilities with a covered call overlay to generate extra income.

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 BCE-T: Does dividend cut make this a buy? Yield is now 5.8%, so still a decent yield. Won't be any dividend growth. Now more transparency on payout ratio, and partnership with PSP on Ziply eases financial burden. Could be a valuation gap up. A buy today is not for a short-term pop in…

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

Opinion about IFR-X: Involved in the UK North Sea. In the process of drilling a well with the Lundins that is very important. In about 1 month will start working with Husky (HSE-T) in the North West Territories. Between the winters of 2008 and 2009, you will have a good shot if they have any…

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 CKE-T: They have cut back and preserved capital. They do not have a debt issue. They are a gas play. If gas prices stay strong, they should do well. She anticipates their 4th quarter production being lower. She is not buying it today, but the future looks good.

Opinion about WPRT-T: We've reached the tipping point where we're sick of really dirty oil. But don't get greedy with this now. Can't recommend buying it at current levels after such a big run.

Opinion about RYU-X: He would like to see a couple of good quarters out from them. It is thinly traded. You have to be prepared to watch it quarter by quarter.

Opinion about IZN-X: Zinc in Utah. This could go into production by itself. We could see this thing scale bigger in terms of tonnage. There is a lot more to be found. It is in an area where there are reduced environmental objection, just south of the Military testing grounds over the Salt Flats.

Opinion about ADZ-X: Intelligently run diamond exploration company. Has yet to see that they have economic pipes. Also into nickel but he has not been following this.

Opinion about ECS-T: The best of the small cobalt companies in North America. It has an asset that is alive and well. It will be raising money for it while next door a mine is being decommissioned.

Opinion about RML-X: Located in Venezuela, which is a problem. If they have a major discovery there is a chance they could be expropriated.

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).

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 CLS-T: Not in his fund, but in separately managed accounts. Fantastic job on the supply side. 12-month price target of $199. If you own it, hold on. Add around $148, and another 1/3 around $140.