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

Opinion about AC-T: (A Top Pick May 29/25, Up 29.8%)Stockchase Research Editor: Michael O'Reilly Our PAST TOP PICK with AC is progressing well.  To remain disciplined, we recommend trailing up the stop (from $14.50) to $16.00 at this time.  

Opinion about TRI-T: Mission-critical information for legal, tax, and accounting professions. Not huge topline growth. Very strong recurring revenues. Always looks expensive, today PE is ~50x. You can get twice the same earnings yield in bonds and in the markets.

Opinion about WCN-T: Trevor Rose’s Insights - Trevor’s most-liked answers from 5i Research Yesterday, Bloomberg posted an article noting it may ultimately cost more to address a high-temperature event at WCN's Chiquita Canyon Landfill than previously thought. The company has budgeted for $100M to $150M in remediation costs this year but Bloomberg said it may…

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: CSH.UN vs. SIA Supply/demand in the space is good. People usually move in to these places around age 80, and 2025 is the very beginning of baby boomers turning 80. This should really drive demand. Properties are hard to build, also tough to operate, so you really need good management. Entirely retirement,…

Opinion about AQN-T: Sold off renewables (still owns some hydro), transitioning to pure-play utility. Stock was up 10% after last month's investor day, so it appears that investors believe in its back-to-basics strategy. Up 20% YTD, outperforming others. Demand for energy continues to increase. This company isn't going anywhere, and it has the best valuation…

Opinion about CPX-T: Its 65% rise in 2024 was based on speculative rumours of data centres in Alberta. Need to see something concrete on that. She's concerned about the recent move since April. You'd do better owning ENB or PPL, which have more secure (as opposed to speculative) growth. Yield is 4.75%.

Opinion about NPI-T: (A Top Pick Jun 10/24, Down 5%) She's more in favour of it now than a year ago. The chart shows that the stock's slowly starting to take off. Sees an upward trajectory from here. Projects continue to come in under budget and ahead of schedule.

Opinion about EMA-T: Big acquisition a year ago increased presence in US, and that will be its growth driver. It's fine as an income stock, with a nice yield. But see her Top Picks.

Opinion about FTS-T: Dividend choice for an 18-year-old to hold forever. Young investors don't care as much about dividend stocks, but they're really important. It's like collecting rent, instead of making money only once you sell a stock. The earlier they start, the more they reap the benefit of the compounding effect that takes place…

Opinion about CCA-T: Likes the chart here. The sector is underperforming. This and Quebecor are small caps compared to peers, which is tough for institutional investors to buy them. But the RSI shows momentum. He sees good upside. A leader in this space.

Opinion about ATD.B-T: It is a growth by acquisition company and is disciplined about not over-paying. It ranks at an attractive level. The cost of fuel is a concern and where do they get their margins. Look elsewhere on an overall basis with consumer related stocks.

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: Likes its positioning in food retail and its pharmaceutical business. Expansion of pharmacists' duties is helping traffic. Discount banners have really been benefiting from softness in the economy, and they have plans to expand the discount footprint. Acquisition of TNT, an Asian chain, is going well.

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: Likes uranium, the world needs more, and Canada has lots. The world particularly likes uranium from geopolitically stable countries.

Opinion about ENB-T: Does fluctuate a bit with the price of oil, but not as much as a producer. Attractive income name. Federal government's infrastructure plan would be positive for pipelines, albeit a few years away. Yield is close to 6%, and the dividend increases every year.

Opinion about PPL-T: Yields 5.6% with a reasonable payout ratio but the cash flow is not moving enough to increase the dividend. He held it but moved into a gold stock for better returns. On pipelines in general, there are not any in their 'OK to buy list'. 

Opinion about CHP.UN-T: (A Top Pick Jul 12/24, Up 14%) Likes it, but should invest in better areas. Bought it for defence. It's boring, but steady. Great long-term for retirees seeking safe income, but won't rise in price much. But during the next pullback, which he expects in coming weeks.

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: Unique feature of large bays and international tenants, rather than smaller businesses. Europe, US, and Canada. Under extra pressure because of leases to MG; he sees no real risk there, as MG is very well run with low debt, actual exposure is ~3%. Industrial market has been punished unreasonably, good value for…

Opinion about AP.UN-T: Office buildings. Big yield, and he thinks they'll be able to keep paying it. Most buildings are in Toronto, with vacancy at 20%. Long time before it can raise rents again.

Opinion about FCR-T: Grocery-anchored retail in major cities in Canada. Most in-demand asset class in real estate today. Irreplaceable portfolio of great retail properties. World-class assets. Will have great rent growth, as new builds are too costly. Potential down the road to build apartments or condos on top of current sites, further adding to value…

Opinion about HR.UN-T: Hostile takeover. Diversified REIT that doesn't work very well anymore, as it tends to trade at the multiple of the least-liked sector it owns, and it has a lot of office. If you own, hold on, as today's press release indicated interest from multiple parties (and so a higher bid may come…

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: Big fan. In general, no new retail properties have been developed. Increasing efficiency (reducing staff and selling apartment segment), focusing on core strengths (retail). Positive on ability to grow earnings for next few years.

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: Main tenant is WMT, which is a blessing and a curse. WMT drives a lot of traffic and attracts a lot of tenants, and it has great credit. But WMT has locked in low rents for a long time, though rents can be raised for the other tenants. Not as much growth…

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: Income derived from royalties plus 50% ownership of a mine that's run by RIO, a world-class operator. Difficult Q1; guiding that things will be made up over next 3 quarters, so full-year forecast remains. Dividend is attractive. Issue is trying to make this mine consistent, and a lot of capital's been spent.…

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: Stockchase Research Editor: Michael O'Reilly We reiterate ZRE, which holds Canadian REIT assets in an equally weighted well diversified portfolio, as a TOP PICK.  The average PE is 13x and it trades below book value.  REITs are a good way to diversify your portfolio.  We recommend trailing up the stop (from $18.50) to…

Opinion about ZWU-T: He used to manage this. Even during the April meltdown, this didn't fall as far as the market. There is still risk here, but the extra income through covered calls helps. Is defensive without huge returns, but you need some defence in a portfolio. If the market falls 30%, ZWU would fall…

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: It is turning around with the chart turning positive. There's a big catch-up trade to be had. The next resistance level is $42. It's the laggard among the big three telcos.

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: He's not a commodity expert. PKI has leverage so it's volatile. You must be confident that the underlying commodity will move up. He's never seen anyone make money in this sector. You'd have to constantly watch oil prices to hold this.

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: It doesn't pay a dividend, Assembles materials for data centres and correlates to Nvidia. It has been switching to a more stable recurring revenue sysytem. He wonders about other developments coming and looks for dividend paying stocks with less volatility. He talked about Verses Tech on the Neo exchange (VERS) with a…