Our economy is considered a market economy. We are not the only ones to have a market economy. Most people to not seem to know that during most of its life China had a market economy. However, it never produced capitalism. In a zero-sum system, there is a winner for every loser. In a non-zero sum system, everyone can win, or conversely, everyone can lose.
If you take a look at our stock market, you will see that it is a non-zero sum system. When the total value of the stock go up, everyone can potentially win and when the total value of the stocks go down, everyone can potentially lose. This is not really, what happens, as there are relative winners and losers when the stock market goes up or goes down.
We, in English speaking countries, tend to think of capitalism as being Anglo-Saxon. However, it really started in Venice, moved to Holland, before hitting England. Niall Ferguson has recently written a couple of financial books that are really worth while reading on the subject of money and finance. He is a favorite author of mine. His recent books are “The Ascent of Money” and “The Cash Nexus”.
I know that a lot of people are concerned about our stock market at this present time. However, what is happening is not a lot different that has happened in the past. I have been investing since the 70’s and market has taken a lot of twists and turns. To get a better perspective, you could look at stock market charts. My favorite is at MSN Money. Here you can get historical charts of the US and Canadian markets. To get the TSX, use the code “$CA:OSPTX and the get the Dow Jones use code $DJI. When looking at charts such as these, it is a good idea to use the Chart Scale of Log Base 2 or Log Base 10.
If you look at these charts, you will see that that there were considerable problems in the 1970’s and from mid 1980’s to mid 1990’s. For Canadian’s the TSX chart only goes back to 1979. However, if you look at the chart you will see that the TSX hit around 4,000 in 1987 and did not finally leave this level until 1995. Looking at such charts can put what the market is going through in perspective.
I still plan to buy and hold stocks and I mark progress, not only in the value of my portfolio, but also in the amount of dividends I get. Though out this recent market, I my dividend income has steadily increased. This is exactly what has happened before in difficult markets.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
AltaGas Income Trust 2
AltaGas Income Trust 2
I am continuing my review of this stock (TSX-ALA.UN) today to see if the current price is good and what the analyst are saying about it. This stock is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices).
As usual, I am first looking at Insider Buying and Selling. The first thing to note is that there is lots of insider buying which equals almost 2% of the value of the current shares. The CEO’s, CFO’s and Directors’ holdings of shares have gone up. However, the other Officers’ shares went down in December/February time frame. The current buying by insiders is certainly showing that insiders have faith in this stock. So, this is a good indicator.
Looking at spreadsheet ratios, I find that the yield at 13.5% is higher than the 5 year average of 8%. The P/E ratio at 10 is at the 5 year average low. This is lower than the 5 year average on the closing price of 13.6. The P/E for the end of 2008 was just 7.3. The current ratio depend on what the earnings estimates are and if they are lower than what the real earnings turn out to be, then the current P/E estimate could show higher than they actually are.
The Price/Book Value ratio at the end of 2008 was 1.29 and this is only 70% of the 10 year average of 1.85. Because of the lower stock price, the current P/BV is even lower at 1.19. This, like the yield is a firmer indicator of a good price than the P/E ratio is. This is because the P/E is based on estimate earnings, and like all estimates, could be wrong. The other good indicator is that the current stock price is some 25% lower than the Graham Price and this is also a good indicator.
There are lots of Buy ratings on this stock, and a few Strong Buys and some Holds. This means that the consensus rating would be a Buy. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.) I can find no other analysts ratings on this stock. Also, the Globe Investor site rates this stock 4 stars out of a possible 5 stars. The stability ratings on this income trust are-3/STA and 3M. These ratings are from 1 to 7 with 1 being for the most stable income trusts.
When looking at the charts, this stock is considered to be part of the Energy Trust Index. For the last 1 and 3 years, this stock has done better than the Energy Trust Index and worse than the TSX Index. For longer periods, it has worse than both these indexes. However, note that these indexes doe not take into consideration distributions. Since the distribution on this stock is high, it would have done better than the charts comparing it to the TSX would show.
In concluding, I would like to point out the problems that I see on this stock from yesterday. The first is that the Accrual Ratio is very high. The other thing is that the increase in dividends over the last 5 and 10 years would not be indicative of what the future holds. Since this is an income trust, it will change back to a corporation, and this will affect the distributions or dividends paid on this stock. Even if they maintain the current dividend, this means that you could go for a number of years without any dividend increases. You might also want to see the comments put on yesterday's entry for this stock.
AltaGas operates physical assets and provides essential services to customers who produce and consume natural gas and power. Their gas business provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids. Their power business generates and delivers power in Alberta and British Columbia and is developing a significant portfolio of renewable power projects. Its web site is www.altagas.ca. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/ala.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
I am continuing my review of this stock (TSX-ALA.UN) today to see if the current price is good and what the analyst are saying about it. This stock is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices).
As usual, I am first looking at Insider Buying and Selling. The first thing to note is that there is lots of insider buying which equals almost 2% of the value of the current shares. The CEO’s, CFO’s and Directors’ holdings of shares have gone up. However, the other Officers’ shares went down in December/February time frame. The current buying by insiders is certainly showing that insiders have faith in this stock. So, this is a good indicator.
Looking at spreadsheet ratios, I find that the yield at 13.5% is higher than the 5 year average of 8%. The P/E ratio at 10 is at the 5 year average low. This is lower than the 5 year average on the closing price of 13.6. The P/E for the end of 2008 was just 7.3. The current ratio depend on what the earnings estimates are and if they are lower than what the real earnings turn out to be, then the current P/E estimate could show higher than they actually are.
The Price/Book Value ratio at the end of 2008 was 1.29 and this is only 70% of the 10 year average of 1.85. Because of the lower stock price, the current P/BV is even lower at 1.19. This, like the yield is a firmer indicator of a good price than the P/E ratio is. This is because the P/E is based on estimate earnings, and like all estimates, could be wrong. The other good indicator is that the current stock price is some 25% lower than the Graham Price and this is also a good indicator.
There are lots of Buy ratings on this stock, and a few Strong Buys and some Holds. This means that the consensus rating would be a Buy. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.) I can find no other analysts ratings on this stock. Also, the Globe Investor site rates this stock 4 stars out of a possible 5 stars. The stability ratings on this income trust are-3/STA and 3M. These ratings are from 1 to 7 with 1 being for the most stable income trusts.
When looking at the charts, this stock is considered to be part of the Energy Trust Index. For the last 1 and 3 years, this stock has done better than the Energy Trust Index and worse than the TSX Index. For longer periods, it has worse than both these indexes. However, note that these indexes doe not take into consideration distributions. Since the distribution on this stock is high, it would have done better than the charts comparing it to the TSX would show.
In concluding, I would like to point out the problems that I see on this stock from yesterday. The first is that the Accrual Ratio is very high. The other thing is that the increase in dividends over the last 5 and 10 years would not be indicative of what the future holds. Since this is an income trust, it will change back to a corporation, and this will affect the distributions or dividends paid on this stock. Even if they maintain the current dividend, this means that you could go for a number of years without any dividend increases. You might also want to see the comments put on yesterday's entry for this stock.
AltaGas operates physical assets and provides essential services to customers who produce and consume natural gas and power. Their gas business provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids. Their power business generates and delivers power in Alberta and British Columbia and is developing a significant portfolio of renewable power projects. Its web site is www.altagas.ca. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/ala.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
AltaGas Income Trust
I am reviewing this stock (TSX-ALA.UN) today as it is on my dividend lists and I was looking for something to buy. This stock is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices). These list show stocks that have had great dividend increases over the last little while. The 5 year average for this stock is 41% annually.
However, there was a huge dividend increase when this stock became an Income Trust in 2004. The last 3 year dividend increases averages just under 3%. I do not know what the increase will be for 2009 as they generally do their increases in August each year. Because of the increase last year, so far there will 1.7% more dividends this year than last.
The other thing on this stock is that the company has not declared what will happen to the dividend when they switch back to a corporation. Some companies could cut their dividends. Others might keep their dividend at the same amount for the next few years. However, the current yield is above 13%, so you can make some good dividend income currently and in the new few years.
This stock has had good growth in Revenues, Earnings, Dividends, and Stock Prices, over the last 5 and 10 years. The growth in Cash Flow and Book Value has also not been bad. The one thing to mention in the revenue growth is that although the revenue has grown well, the revenue per unit has actually declined for both the last 5 and 10 year periods.
This stock has a fairly strong balance sheet. The Liquidity Ratio is 1.12 and the Asset/Liability ratio is 1.79. The liquidity ratio means that the current assets can cover the current liabilities. The Return on Equity (ROE) has been holding up quite well. The ROE for 2008 was 17% and this is slightly lower than the 5 year average of 18%. The Accrual Ratio is a bit worrisome at 18%. One of the interpretations of high accrual ratios is that the earnings can be lacking in quality.
I have taken a small position in this stock. Now I plan to wait and see how things go with this stock.
AltaGas operates physical assets and provides essential services to customers who produce and consume natural gas and power. Their gas business provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids. Their power business generates and delivers power in Alberta and British Columbia and is developing a significant portfolio of renewable power projects. Its web site is www.altagas.ca. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/ala.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
However, there was a huge dividend increase when this stock became an Income Trust in 2004. The last 3 year dividend increases averages just under 3%. I do not know what the increase will be for 2009 as they generally do their increases in August each year. Because of the increase last year, so far there will 1.7% more dividends this year than last.
The other thing on this stock is that the company has not declared what will happen to the dividend when they switch back to a corporation. Some companies could cut their dividends. Others might keep their dividend at the same amount for the next few years. However, the current yield is above 13%, so you can make some good dividend income currently and in the new few years.
This stock has had good growth in Revenues, Earnings, Dividends, and Stock Prices, over the last 5 and 10 years. The growth in Cash Flow and Book Value has also not been bad. The one thing to mention in the revenue growth is that although the revenue has grown well, the revenue per unit has actually declined for both the last 5 and 10 year periods.
This stock has a fairly strong balance sheet. The Liquidity Ratio is 1.12 and the Asset/Liability ratio is 1.79. The liquidity ratio means that the current assets can cover the current liabilities. The Return on Equity (ROE) has been holding up quite well. The ROE for 2008 was 17% and this is slightly lower than the 5 year average of 18%. The Accrual Ratio is a bit worrisome at 18%. One of the interpretations of high accrual ratios is that the earnings can be lacking in quality.
I have taken a small position in this stock. Now I plan to wait and see how things go with this stock.
AltaGas operates physical assets and provides essential services to customers who produce and consume natural gas and power. Their gas business provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids. Their power business generates and delivers power in Alberta and British Columbia and is developing a significant portfolio of renewable power projects. Its web site is www.altagas.ca. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/ala.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Toromont Industries Ltd 2
I am continuing my review this stock (TSX-TIH) today because of its annual report for 2008. I have also updated my spreadsheet today as I noted that the quarterly report is in. Toromont has made progress as the Revenues, Earnings and Book Value are up from last year. Stock price is down marginally from yesterday.
This stock is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices) and was also on Mike Higgs’ list. (Note that Mike Higgs’ has discontinued his list.)
The first thing I look at is Insider Buying and Selling. There is some Insider Selling, but this seems to be connected with options. Insider ownership of shares have not changed much over the past year, in fact share holdings seemed to have increased slightly. This report does not seem to tell us anything at this time.
The next thing to look at is the ratios and the Graham Price to see if these indicators show if this stock is presently a good buy or not. The stock is selling near, but slightly above the Graham Price. This does point to a good buy price. Also, the current yield is 2.6% compared to a 5 year average 1.7%. The P/E ratios are, of course, dependent on the earnings estimates. The P/E at the end of 2008 was only 11. The current one is 12 to 13. This is a nice low P/E as the 5 year low P/E ratio is 13. The P/E 5 year average on the closing price is 16.
I also looked at the Price to Book Value and this ratio is at 1.9. This is substantially lower than the 10 year average of 2.5 or the 5 year average of 2.8. The currently P/BV is about 75% of the 10 year average and anything lower than 80% of the 10 year average is showing a good stock price for buying.
There are quite a few analysts following this stock. Their ratings seem to be either a Buy or a Hold. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.) No one says anything bad about the company, and most with the Hold rating feel that the current recession will still affect the company, at least in the short term. Even though this is a dividend paying company, it is still an industrial company and there are therefore risks in buying it, especially in the short term.
When I look at the charts, I see that this company has done better than the TSX and the Industrial Index over periods of 1 year and longer. It is only in a shorter time frame that the TSX index has done better, but this stock as done as well as the Industrial Index in these shorter time periods. I still expect to make money on this stock in the long term and I intend to hold the shares that I have.
There are two sections to this company. The Equipment Group is for Caterpillar dealerships. The Compression Group designs, engineers, fabricates and installs compression systems for natural gas, fuel gas and carbon dioxide. This last group also has industrial and recreational refrigeration systems. Its web site is www.toromont.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/tih.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
This stock is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices) and was also on Mike Higgs’ list. (Note that Mike Higgs’ has discontinued his list.)
The first thing I look at is Insider Buying and Selling. There is some Insider Selling, but this seems to be connected with options. Insider ownership of shares have not changed much over the past year, in fact share holdings seemed to have increased slightly. This report does not seem to tell us anything at this time.
The next thing to look at is the ratios and the Graham Price to see if these indicators show if this stock is presently a good buy or not. The stock is selling near, but slightly above the Graham Price. This does point to a good buy price. Also, the current yield is 2.6% compared to a 5 year average 1.7%. The P/E ratios are, of course, dependent on the earnings estimates. The P/E at the end of 2008 was only 11. The current one is 12 to 13. This is a nice low P/E as the 5 year low P/E ratio is 13. The P/E 5 year average on the closing price is 16.
I also looked at the Price to Book Value and this ratio is at 1.9. This is substantially lower than the 10 year average of 2.5 or the 5 year average of 2.8. The currently P/BV is about 75% of the 10 year average and anything lower than 80% of the 10 year average is showing a good stock price for buying.
There are quite a few analysts following this stock. Their ratings seem to be either a Buy or a Hold. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.) No one says anything bad about the company, and most with the Hold rating feel that the current recession will still affect the company, at least in the short term. Even though this is a dividend paying company, it is still an industrial company and there are therefore risks in buying it, especially in the short term.
When I look at the charts, I see that this company has done better than the TSX and the Industrial Index over periods of 1 year and longer. It is only in a shorter time frame that the TSX index has done better, but this stock as done as well as the Industrial Index in these shorter time periods. I still expect to make money on this stock in the long term and I intend to hold the shares that I have.
There are two sections to this company. The Equipment Group is for Caterpillar dealerships. The Compression Group designs, engineers, fabricates and installs compression systems for natural gas, fuel gas and carbon dioxide. This last group also has industrial and recreational refrigeration systems. Its web site is www.toromont.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/tih.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Toromont Industries Ltd
I am reviewing this stock (TSX-TIH) today as I have received its annual report for 2008. I starting buying this stock at the end of 2007 and bought some more in 2008. To date I have lost some 8% per year on this stock. I do not intend to buy any more as I have enough of it. I, of course, expect to make money on this stock over the long term.
This stock is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices) and was also on Mike Higgs’ list. (Note that Mike Higgs’ has discontinued his list.) There are good reasons for this to be on dividend paying lists because it has raised it dividend some 21% annually over the past 5 years and 16% annually over the past 10 years. For the current year, it has only raised its dividend by 7%. There were other such lower dividend raises in the past and you can see this if you look at raises each year over the past 10 years.
This stock has had great growth in Revenues, Earnings, Dividends, Stock Prices, Cash Flow and Book Value over the last 5 and 10 years. That is for all growth measurements, this stock has had good growth. However, for all these growth measurements, the grow rates have slowed down for 2008 or is expected to slow for 2009. This is hardly surprising, as we are in a recession.
This stock has a strong balance sheet. The Liquidity Ratio is 1.90 and the Asset/Liability ratio is 2.03. These are both great figures. The Return on Equity (ROE) has been holding up quite well. The ROE for 2008 was 18% and this is slightly higher than the 5 year average of 17.7%. The Accrual Ratio is not significant at .51%.
As I said earlier, I expect to make money on this stock in the long term and I intend to hold on to what I have.
There are two sections to this company. The Equipment Group is for Caterpillar dealerships. The Compression Group designs, engineers, fabricates and installs compression systems for natural gas, fuel gas and carbon dioxide. This last group also has industrial and recreational refrigeration systems. Its web site is www.toromont.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/tih.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
This stock is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices) and was also on Mike Higgs’ list. (Note that Mike Higgs’ has discontinued his list.) There are good reasons for this to be on dividend paying lists because it has raised it dividend some 21% annually over the past 5 years and 16% annually over the past 10 years. For the current year, it has only raised its dividend by 7%. There were other such lower dividend raises in the past and you can see this if you look at raises each year over the past 10 years.
This stock has had great growth in Revenues, Earnings, Dividends, Stock Prices, Cash Flow and Book Value over the last 5 and 10 years. That is for all growth measurements, this stock has had good growth. However, for all these growth measurements, the grow rates have slowed down for 2008 or is expected to slow for 2009. This is hardly surprising, as we are in a recession.
This stock has a strong balance sheet. The Liquidity Ratio is 1.90 and the Asset/Liability ratio is 2.03. These are both great figures. The Return on Equity (ROE) has been holding up quite well. The ROE for 2008 was 18% and this is slightly higher than the 5 year average of 17.7%. The Accrual Ratio is not significant at .51%.
As I said earlier, I expect to make money on this stock in the long term and I intend to hold on to what I have.
There are two sections to this company. The Equipment Group is for Caterpillar dealerships. The Compression Group designs, engineers, fabricates and installs compression systems for natural gas, fuel gas and carbon dioxide. This last group also has industrial and recreational refrigeration systems. Its web site is www.toromont.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/tih.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Power Corp 2
I am continuing my review of this stock (TSX-POW) today as I have updated my spreadsheet because of its 2008 annual report. I do not own this stock, as I have Power Financial Corp stock. This stock is on everyone lists. It is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices) and also on Mike Higgs’ list. Please note that Mike Higgs’ has discontinued his list.
What worries me currently about this stock is the large amount of insider selling with almost no insider buying. There has been an awful lot of insider selling since the end of February this year. The vast amount of this selling is by officers of the company, and there were a number of them selling. This has to make you wonder what they know that others do not. Of course, the problem with insider selling is that it is hard to know why people are selling.
When you look at analysts’ recommendations, they run the gamut from Strong Buy to Hold. There are no other ratings that I can see. The consensus seems to be a Buy that is very close to a Hold. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.)
I looked next at my spreadsheet to see if what the ratios are saying about the current price for this stock. First, I looked at the yield. The yield is currently about 4.8% and this is higher than the 5 year average of 2.7%. The current P/E of 9 is lower than the 5 year average of 13 and also lower than the 5 year average low of 11. Both of these ratios point to the price being relatively low.
The next thing I looked at is the Graham Price and the current stock price is substantially lower than the Graham Price. This points to the current stock price being a good entry point if you want to buy this stock. The last ratio that points to the current stock price being a good one is that the Price/Book Value ratio at 1.05 is quite a bit below the 5 year average of 1.75. On this stock, there is no ratio that does not point to the current stock price as being relatively low and at a good buying point.
In looking at the charts, the financials have not done as well as the TSX over any period of 5 years and less. You have to go out some 10 years to find the financials doing better than the TSX. This stock is no different. It has done as well as the financials over the last 5 years. It has not done as well as the TSX.
This stock has a great reputation as dividend paying stock. The dividends have traditionally been around 2% with a high rate of annual increases, especially in the last 10 years. Considering what the market has been like lately, the stock plus dividends has eked out a 5 year return of almost 2%. This, of course, will go up with the stock market recovery. It is no wonder this stock is on so many lists as a good dividend paying stock.
This company is an international management and holding company. It has as subsidiaries Power Financial Corp., Power Technology Investment Corp. and Gesca Ltee. Subsidiaries of Power Financial include Great-West Lifeco, IGM Financial, London Insurance Group, Canada Life Financial, Putnam Invest., LLC Investors Group, Mackenzie Financial Corporation, and its affiliate Pargesa Holding SA. Its web site is www.powercorporation.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/pow.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
What worries me currently about this stock is the large amount of insider selling with almost no insider buying. There has been an awful lot of insider selling since the end of February this year. The vast amount of this selling is by officers of the company, and there were a number of them selling. This has to make you wonder what they know that others do not. Of course, the problem with insider selling is that it is hard to know why people are selling.
When you look at analysts’ recommendations, they run the gamut from Strong Buy to Hold. There are no other ratings that I can see. The consensus seems to be a Buy that is very close to a Hold. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.)
I looked next at my spreadsheet to see if what the ratios are saying about the current price for this stock. First, I looked at the yield. The yield is currently about 4.8% and this is higher than the 5 year average of 2.7%. The current P/E of 9 is lower than the 5 year average of 13 and also lower than the 5 year average low of 11. Both of these ratios point to the price being relatively low.
The next thing I looked at is the Graham Price and the current stock price is substantially lower than the Graham Price. This points to the current stock price being a good entry point if you want to buy this stock. The last ratio that points to the current stock price being a good one is that the Price/Book Value ratio at 1.05 is quite a bit below the 5 year average of 1.75. On this stock, there is no ratio that does not point to the current stock price as being relatively low and at a good buying point.
In looking at the charts, the financials have not done as well as the TSX over any period of 5 years and less. You have to go out some 10 years to find the financials doing better than the TSX. This stock is no different. It has done as well as the financials over the last 5 years. It has not done as well as the TSX.
This stock has a great reputation as dividend paying stock. The dividends have traditionally been around 2% with a high rate of annual increases, especially in the last 10 years. Considering what the market has been like lately, the stock plus dividends has eked out a 5 year return of almost 2%. This, of course, will go up with the stock market recovery. It is no wonder this stock is on so many lists as a good dividend paying stock.
This company is an international management and holding company. It has as subsidiaries Power Financial Corp., Power Technology Investment Corp. and Gesca Ltee. Subsidiaries of Power Financial include Great-West Lifeco, IGM Financial, London Insurance Group, Canada Life Financial, Putnam Invest., LLC Investors Group, Mackenzie Financial Corporation, and its affiliate Pargesa Holding SA. Its web site is www.powercorporation.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/pow.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Power Corp
I am reviewing this stock (TSX-POW) today as I have updated my spreadsheet because of its 2008 annual report. I do not own this stock, as I have Power Financial Corp stock. This stock is on everyone lists. It is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices) and also on Mike Higgs’ list. Please note that Mike Higgs’ has discontinued his list.
This stock has had great growth in Revenues, Dividends, Cash Flow and Book Value over the last 5 and 10 years. There is a good reason for this stock being on everyone list as it is a good dividend payer. The dividend growth for the last 5 and 10 years is around 18% for both periods. The yield also is not bad at around 2%. If you had held this stock for the 5 or 10 years to 2008, yield on initial investment would be around 5.3% and 7.5% respectively.
The earnings and the stock price fell quite substantially in 2008. After the earnings came in lower for the year ending in December 2008, earnings for 2009 were revised down. However, most analysts expect the earnings will rise again in 2010. The earning and stock price hit are not surprising given that we are in a recession.
As far as the Asset/Liability Ratio goes, it is rather low at 1.20. However, this company is mostly financial and this ratio is lower for financial companies and banks. This company did not have a great year for Return on Equity either as this came in at only 7%. However, the 5 year average was 13% and this company has usually managed a ROE around 15% in the past. The other thing to look at is the Accrual Ratio and this is not bad at .05%.
As I have said, I can see why this stock is on everyone list. It pays good dividends and it has steadily increased the value of the company. You can see this reflected in the growth over time of the Graham Price. I am going on a road trip tomorrow, so I will not be publishing my blog, but on Friday, I will take a look at what the analysts are saying about this stock currently.
This company is an international management and holding company. It has as subsidiaries Power Financial Corp., Power Technology Investment Corp. and Gesca Ltee. Subsidiaries of Power Financial include Great-West Lifeco, IGM Financial, London Insurance Group, Canada Life Financial, Putnam Invest., LLC Investors Group, Mackenzie Financial Corporation, and its affiliate Pargesa Holding SA. Its web site is www.powercorporation.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/pow.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
This stock has had great growth in Revenues, Dividends, Cash Flow and Book Value over the last 5 and 10 years. There is a good reason for this stock being on everyone list as it is a good dividend payer. The dividend growth for the last 5 and 10 years is around 18% for both periods. The yield also is not bad at around 2%. If you had held this stock for the 5 or 10 years to 2008, yield on initial investment would be around 5.3% and 7.5% respectively.
The earnings and the stock price fell quite substantially in 2008. After the earnings came in lower for the year ending in December 2008, earnings for 2009 were revised down. However, most analysts expect the earnings will rise again in 2010. The earning and stock price hit are not surprising given that we are in a recession.
As far as the Asset/Liability Ratio goes, it is rather low at 1.20. However, this company is mostly financial and this ratio is lower for financial companies and banks. This company did not have a great year for Return on Equity either as this came in at only 7%. However, the 5 year average was 13% and this company has usually managed a ROE around 15% in the past. The other thing to look at is the Accrual Ratio and this is not bad at .05%.
As I have said, I can see why this stock is on everyone list. It pays good dividends and it has steadily increased the value of the company. You can see this reflected in the growth over time of the Graham Price. I am going on a road trip tomorrow, so I will not be publishing my blog, but on Friday, I will take a look at what the analysts are saying about this stock currently.
This company is an international management and holding company. It has as subsidiaries Power Financial Corp., Power Technology Investment Corp. and Gesca Ltee. Subsidiaries of Power Financial include Great-West Lifeco, IGM Financial, London Insurance Group, Canada Life Financial, Putnam Invest., LLC Investors Group, Mackenzie Financial Corporation, and its affiliate Pargesa Holding SA. Its web site is www.powercorporation.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/pow.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Ensign Energy Services 2
I am continuing my review this stock (TSX-ESI) today from last Friday. This stock is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices). As usual, I am first checking on Insider Buying and Selling. What I have found is a very small amount of insider buying spread over the past year. This does not seem to materially change the holdings of insiders.
The next thing I looked into was the yield. The current yield of 2.2% is above the average 5 year yield on the closing price (1.6%) and the average High/Low stock price (1.4%). This is positive buying signal. It is perhaps better than the P/E ratio, as the current P/E ratio really depends on what the earnings for this year come in at, and there is a wide spread in what analyst feel the earnings will be for this year. However, the current P/E at about 13 is not bad.
The other good ratio to look at is the Price/Book Value ratio. This ratio at 1.5 is considerably below the 10 year average of 2.8. This is also a good indicator to use, as it also does not depend on what the earnings estimates are for this stock in 2009. The last thing I am looking at as far as buy/sell signals go is the Graham Price. It shows that the stock price is a good one. Depending on what you think the earnings will be; the stock price is at or below the Graham Price.
In looking what the analysts’ recommendations are, I see that there are a few Strong Buys and Buys, but most of the recommendations are a Hold. The consensus recommendation is a Hold. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.) This company is dependent on the oil and gas industry and it is felt there will be less activity and therefore less call for the services to these industries over the next while.
As far as I can see, this is a great little company, and I can see why it is on the dividend achievers’ type lists as they have a habit of increasing their dividends on a regular basis over the last 5 and 10 years.
With headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, Ensign is an industry leader in the delivery of oilfield services worldwide to the oil and gas industry. They operate in North and South American, Middle East, South East Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Its web site is www.ensignenergy.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/esi.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
The next thing I looked into was the yield. The current yield of 2.2% is above the average 5 year yield on the closing price (1.6%) and the average High/Low stock price (1.4%). This is positive buying signal. It is perhaps better than the P/E ratio, as the current P/E ratio really depends on what the earnings for this year come in at, and there is a wide spread in what analyst feel the earnings will be for this year. However, the current P/E at about 13 is not bad.
The other good ratio to look at is the Price/Book Value ratio. This ratio at 1.5 is considerably below the 10 year average of 2.8. This is also a good indicator to use, as it also does not depend on what the earnings estimates are for this stock in 2009. The last thing I am looking at as far as buy/sell signals go is the Graham Price. It shows that the stock price is a good one. Depending on what you think the earnings will be; the stock price is at or below the Graham Price.
In looking what the analysts’ recommendations are, I see that there are a few Strong Buys and Buys, but most of the recommendations are a Hold. The consensus recommendation is a Hold. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.) This company is dependent on the oil and gas industry and it is felt there will be less activity and therefore less call for the services to these industries over the next while.
As far as I can see, this is a great little company, and I can see why it is on the dividend achievers’ type lists as they have a habit of increasing their dividends on a regular basis over the last 5 and 10 years.
With headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, Ensign is an industry leader in the delivery of oilfield services worldwide to the oil and gas industry. They operate in North and South American, Middle East, South East Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Its web site is www.ensignenergy.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/esi.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Ensign Energy Services
I am reviewing this stock (TSX-ESI) today as it is on the two dividend paying Canadian stock lists that I following. It is on the Dividend Achievers list at www.dividendachievers.com, and the Dividend Aristocrats list at www.tmxmoney.com/en/individual.html (see indices).
For all the figures I follow, Revenue, Earnings, Stock Price, Book Value and Cash Flow, this stock has had great growth over the past 5 and 10 years. The only not so great growth is in the last 5 years for the stock price. For example, the Revenues have grown 12% over the last 5 years, while the earnings have grown 21%. The stock growth for the last 5 years is just over 5%, but this is not bad considering the current market.
I can see why this stock is on the dividend achievers type lists as the dividends have grown some 16% over the last 10 years and 23% over the last 5 years. Although I must admit that, the dividend yield is often below 1% for this stock. It is currently just over 2%, but this is because of the lower price of the stock in the current market.
The balance sheet on this stock is not bad as the Liquidity Ratio is 1.26 and the Asset/Liability Ratio is 3.34. This last figure is especially good. When you look at the Return on Equity (ROE), this is also very good with the 5 year average of 21% and the end of 2008 at 14%.
The only negative I find on this stock is that the Accrual Ratio is rather high at 6%. No stock is, of course, perfect. This stock quite often has very high Accrual Ratios. This might call into question the quality of the earnings figures. However, as I said above, this stock is a good earner and good dividend payer and money can probably be made with this stock. However, it is in the energy business and is, of course, of a high risk nature. Tomorrow I will review what the analysts are saying on this stock.
With headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, Ensign is an industry leader in the delivery of oilfield services worldwide to the oil and gas industry. They operate in North and South American, Middle East, South East Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Its web site is www.ensignenergy.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/esi.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
For all the figures I follow, Revenue, Earnings, Stock Price, Book Value and Cash Flow, this stock has had great growth over the past 5 and 10 years. The only not so great growth is in the last 5 years for the stock price. For example, the Revenues have grown 12% over the last 5 years, while the earnings have grown 21%. The stock growth for the last 5 years is just over 5%, but this is not bad considering the current market.
I can see why this stock is on the dividend achievers type lists as the dividends have grown some 16% over the last 10 years and 23% over the last 5 years. Although I must admit that, the dividend yield is often below 1% for this stock. It is currently just over 2%, but this is because of the lower price of the stock in the current market.
The balance sheet on this stock is not bad as the Liquidity Ratio is 1.26 and the Asset/Liability Ratio is 3.34. This last figure is especially good. When you look at the Return on Equity (ROE), this is also very good with the 5 year average of 21% and the end of 2008 at 14%.
The only negative I find on this stock is that the Accrual Ratio is rather high at 6%. No stock is, of course, perfect. This stock quite often has very high Accrual Ratios. This might call into question the quality of the earnings figures. However, as I said above, this stock is a good earner and good dividend payer and money can probably be made with this stock. However, it is in the energy business and is, of course, of a high risk nature. Tomorrow I will review what the analysts are saying on this stock.
With headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, Ensign is an industry leader in the delivery of oilfield services worldwide to the oil and gas industry. They operate in North and South American, Middle East, South East Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Its web site is www.ensignenergy.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/esi.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
EnCana Corp 2
I am continuing my review on this stock (TSX-CNR) today. I bought it to help me keep track of Canada’s resource stock. After all, resource stocks are a large part of the TSX. This is a large and well respected Canadian Oil company that is widely owned and traded, not only on the TSX, but also on the NYSE. The NYSE symbol is also ECA.
First, I looked at Insider Selling and Buying. There is net selling of some 9m of this stock, which is .02% of the outstanding shares of this stock. It all seems to be mostly options, but the outstanding share held by directors has decreased somewhat over the last year.
The current yield at just over 3% is greater than the 5 year average 1.3% and is also higher than it has been for some time. If you look at the P/E current at 5.9%, it is lower than even the 5 year low average of 7.3 and of course, lower than the 5 year average on close of 9.8. However, if earnings are going to drop as expected by all the analysts I look at, then the P/E ratio will climb higher.
When you look the Graham Price, you get the same thing. The Graham Price is influence by the book value and the earnings. If the earnings drop off considerably, then the Graham Price will also fall. Currently, the Graham price is some 37% higher than the stock price. However, if the earnings fall as expected, then the stock price will be very close the Graham Price. This will still make this stock price a good price, because the Graham Price, is considered a good price.
There are a number of analysts following this stock. Ratings are from Strong Buy to Hold, with the consensus rating being a Buy. There are no ratings lower than a Hold that I can find. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.) If you look at the estimates, there is a big range when it comes to earnings and a much smaller range for Cash Flow.
When looking at the charts, once you get beyond three years, this company has done much better than the TSX and the Energy Index. On charts for shorter periods than 1 year, this company has done as well as the TSX and better than the Energy Index.
As I said yesterday, I intend to hold this stock for now. However, I just have 100 shares, so this will not affect my portfolio at all, no matter what it does. It will help me keep an eye on energy stocks.
This company is involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids. It is a merger of Alberta Energy Company Ltd. (AEC) and PanCanadian Energy Corporation (PanCanadian) companies. It is a world-class independent oil and gas company. Its web site is www.encana.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/eca.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
First, I looked at Insider Selling and Buying. There is net selling of some 9m of this stock, which is .02% of the outstanding shares of this stock. It all seems to be mostly options, but the outstanding share held by directors has decreased somewhat over the last year.
The current yield at just over 3% is greater than the 5 year average 1.3% and is also higher than it has been for some time. If you look at the P/E current at 5.9%, it is lower than even the 5 year low average of 7.3 and of course, lower than the 5 year average on close of 9.8. However, if earnings are going to drop as expected by all the analysts I look at, then the P/E ratio will climb higher.
When you look the Graham Price, you get the same thing. The Graham Price is influence by the book value and the earnings. If the earnings drop off considerably, then the Graham Price will also fall. Currently, the Graham price is some 37% higher than the stock price. However, if the earnings fall as expected, then the stock price will be very close the Graham Price. This will still make this stock price a good price, because the Graham Price, is considered a good price.
There are a number of analysts following this stock. Ratings are from Strong Buy to Hold, with the consensus rating being a Buy. There are no ratings lower than a Hold that I can find. (See my site for information on analyst ratings.) If you look at the estimates, there is a big range when it comes to earnings and a much smaller range for Cash Flow.
When looking at the charts, once you get beyond three years, this company has done much better than the TSX and the Energy Index. On charts for shorter periods than 1 year, this company has done as well as the TSX and better than the Energy Index.
As I said yesterday, I intend to hold this stock for now. However, I just have 100 shares, so this will not affect my portfolio at all, no matter what it does. It will help me keep an eye on energy stocks.
This company is involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids. It is a merger of Alberta Energy Company Ltd. (AEC) and PanCanadian Energy Corporation (PanCanadian) companies. It is a world-class independent oil and gas company. Its web site is www.encana.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/eca.htm.
This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets.
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