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| BUY | 30.500 | Michael Smedley | Market Call Minute: Great company. | 2012-01-10 | |
| BUY | 30.080 | Lorne Steinberg | Phenomenal management team, show growth business. Acquired and squeezed costs out of companies. Only Canadian retailer to succeed in US. | 2011-11-01 | |
| Comment | 29.850 | Ross Healy | Stock is fairly cheap from his Fair Market Value perspective. Trading at a bout 2.5X BV and has been much higher in the past. Seems hard for it to get any traction. Needs a strong market and then it will go. | 2011-07-12 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.860 | Michael Simpson, CFA | Mac’s chains across Canada. Also have some US stores. Last quarter results were good. Raised dividend by 25%. Trading at about 11.5X next year’s earnings. | 2010-12-02 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 22.910 | Gavin Graham | (A Top Pick Aug 25/09. Up 18.44%.) | 2010-09-16 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 21.430 | Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI | (A Top Pick July 24/09. Up 32.28%.) Sold at $19.90 for a 22% gain excluding dividends. | 2010-07-30 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 19.860 | Mike S. Newton, CIM FCSI | (A Top Pick Aug 11/09. Up 9.19%.) Got stopped out but captured most of this 9.19%. Would love to get back into this one. | 2010-07-12 | |
| Comment | 18.100 | Norman Levine | Biggest convenience store operator in Canada and one of the largest in the US. A lot of sales are gas. Shrinking margins on gas and the US economic slowdown hurt them. Marketing and margins are starting to come back and they should be big beneficiaries. | 2010-04-06 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 20.570 | Mike S. Newton, CIM FCSI | (A Top Pick Aug 11/09. Up 14.98%.) Still a buy. | 2010-02-02 | |
| TOP PICK | 18.630 | Keith Richards | Has formed a symmetrical triangle from December to July and then broke out with volume. Most recent earnings blew estimates away. Expects it to pullback with the rest of the market and you can buy it in the next 30-40 days $1 or $2 cheaper. | 2009-09-24 | |
| TOP PICK | 18.970 | Gavin Graham | Convenience stores in North America. Gasoline margins in the US have increased. Continues to buy up small chains and improve their margins. | 2009-08-25 | |
| TOP PICK | 17.820 | Mike S. Newton, CIM FCSI | There is a lot happening in the convenience store space. Built their business through ConocoPhilips (COP-N) shedding their gas stations. This will now also happen with Suncor (SU-T) and PetroCan (PCA-T) merging. | 2009-08-11 | |
| TOP PICK | 16.300 | Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI | A lot of corner stores both in the US and Quebec. Use a $15 stoploss. $16 is a great point to buy it. | 2009-07-24 | |
| BUY | 14.000 | Bill Carrigan | A stock that may be a safe place to hide. When investors get nervous they move into lower risks. Probably not a bad place to be. | 2009-07-02 | |
| BUY | 13.440 | Michael Smedley | At some point you are going to have a pickup of vehicular traffic in gas bars. Buying ‘On the Run' from Exxon in the US | 2009-04-28 | |
| TOP PICK | 11.920 | Gavin Graham | One of the very few Canadian retailers in the US that has managed to make it work. Big swings in gasoline but the underlying business continued to do extremely well. | 2009-03-23 | |
| Comment | 13.650 | David Baskin | Just reported and beat the Street extensively with $.24 earnings. This is a stock that needs good news. Problem has been gas margins at the pump and US consumers using less gas. | 2008-09-02 | |
| Comment | 12.710 | Brian Acker, CA | Thinks this one will go to about $10.70, which would be an interesting buying opportunity. His model price is still above the stock price, but earnings estimates are coming down. His model value is $22.82. | 2008-06-11 | |
| HOLD | 14.630 | Laura Wallace | (Market Call Minute.) Prefers Shoppers (SC-T). | 2008-05-23 | |
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| WAIT | 14.920 | Norman Levine | Convenience stores in North America. Gasoline sales drive the business in the US. These are lightening up and margins are beating squeezed. Currency has also hurt them. On his radar and he is waiting for the right opportunity. Things will probably sort out over the next year. Don't try to pick a bottom. | 2008-04-10 | |
| HOLD | 20.150 | Gavin Graham | It is the best performing Canadian retail stock over the last ten years. Long term success story. One of the few Canadian retail companies doing a good job in the states. He owns quite a lot of it. Earnings don't look great right now due to the low gas sale margins and the translation of the US dollar revenues to Canadian. | 2007-10-29 | |
| SELL | 20.230 | Hap (Robert) Sneddon FCSI | Has been in a long-term decline. The consumers staples sector has been weakening on a relative basis. Before getting into the stock, you would like to see it hold and build a base for the time being. There are probably better stocks available. | 2007-10-09 | |
| Comment | 20.380 | Norman Levine | 80% of earnings come from the US, which has to hurt them. Had a number of quarters where same store sales were poor. Gasoline margins were low. He is starting to look at this as a possible future investment. They are the dominant player in the US convenience store market. | 2007-10-02 | |
| VAGUE | 20.390 | David Baskin | Their fate is tied to: the spread on what they buy gasoline and what they sell it at, Tobacco trends, U.S currency. The worst is over as far as the U.S currency. You will suffer some volatility. | 2007-09-26 | |
| BUY | 21.300 | Norman Levine | Just starting to look at this one. A Canadian play on the US convenience store business. They were on a big growth kick, adding stores, adding sales, adding profits. In the last year the margins have contracted and sales growth had slowed. Things are now | 2007-09-11 | |
| BUY | 21.660 | Bill Carrigan | Had been in a downtrend but had a pop when their numbers came out. Probably not a bad stock to own during this late cycle in the market. It might be a place where nervous money may go. Don't let it go below $20. | 2007-09-05 | |
| Comment | 21.880 | Norman Levine | Been buying back shares because of limited expansion ability and the weaker market. Haven't made any major acquisitions for a while, which has slowed growth. Same-store sales have declined. Gasoline margins have decreased. At the right time, he will take | 2007-08-29 | |
| SELL | 20.490 | Bill Carrigan | Chart shows a string of lower lows. He wouldn't touch it. | 2007-08-20 | |
| DON'T BUY | 21.110 | Peter Brieger | The problem for this and others in this space is competition from other sources. Well-run company. | 2007-08-14 | |
| TOP PICK | 23.120 | Gavin Graham | The 3rd biggest convince store chain. The price has come down a lot, because the gas bars margin went from 15 cents to 5 cents. Now gas margins have gone back up again, the stock will go up again as well.Bought around current price. | 2007-06-15 | |
| BUY | 22.970 | Gavin Graham | One of the very few Canadian retailers that have expanded in the US. Margins on gasoline are excellent. | 2007-04-23 | |
| Comment | 23.630 | David Baskin | Impressive company. Has done a very good job of expanding into the US. Acquisitions have been solid and well priced. Suffer from 2 problems. Large % of sales come from gasoline and last 2 quarters have been impacted by low margins. Make a lot of money from selling tobacco, which is not a fan of. | 2007-04-09 | |
| Comment | 24.600 | Chyanne Fickes | Excellent company. Reporting tomorrow with a wide range of analysts estimates. A lot of their profits are from gasoline sales, whose margins go up and down like crazy. Has traded in a tight range for the last couple of years. | 2007-03-12 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 25.660 | Chris Smith | (A Top Pick Mar 21/06. Up 2.4%.) Convenience store side has been fine. It's the dramatic move in gasoline prices that has hampered margins heavily. | 2007-02-07 | |
| Comment | 25.990 | Michael Sprung | They have done an extremely good job of expanding their convenience stores/gas stations. Still have a few areas they can expand into. The price/earnings multiple is a little high for him but they came off 10%-15% he would take a hard look at it. | 2007-01-29 | |
| BUY | 26.400 | Gavin Graham | One of the few Canadian success stories in US retailing. Have 5 to 7 years of good growth. | 2006-10-30 | |
| TOP PICK | 26.700 | Chris Smith | (A Top Pick Mar 21/06. Up 7.6%.) Delivering the results he was looking for. The stability in gasoline will help to add stability to their quarterly numbers. Poised to continue to grow quite strongly. Looking for large acquisitions in the US. | 2006-10-25 | |
| VAGUE | 23.330 | Norman Levine | Good business. A lot of their sales are in gasoline. In the long run it will be great. | 2006-09-27 | |
| BUY | 23.160 | Norman Levine | Its main market is in the US where it bought Circle K and a number of other convenience stores. A very large retailer of gasoline. | 2006-09-05 | |
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| PAST TOP PICK | 23.790 | Chris Smith | (A Top Pick Mar 21/06. Down 3.5%.) As gasoline prices rose, margins for retailers were squeezed. They'll probably have another quarter that will show margin pressure. Still likes. Good price. | 2006-08-28 | |
| BUY | 22.960 | Gavin Graham | This has been the successful Canadian retailer in the US. Has made good acquisitions. | 2006-08-10 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.260 | David Chapman | Chart shows a head and shoulders top and is now in a downtrend. Doesn't see any sign of a bottom forming. | 2006-08-04 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.220 | Jean-Francois Tardif | Has done extremely well with convenience stores all across North America. Grew by acquisition. Most of their businesses are in the US which worries him. Not cheap. | 2006-07-07 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.090 | David Burrows | Not terribly economically sensitive at this point. One of the big concerns is that the economy may be slowing down. Owns about 1400 convenience stores/gas stations in the US. Margins are fairly steady. Very good operators. | 2006-06-15 | |
| DON'T BUY | 24.500 | David Taylor, MBA, CFA | Wonderfully well-run company. Continue to do tuck-under acquisitions on the service station side. Margins continue to improve. Can find lots better valuation in other places. | 2006-06-14 | |
| WAIT | 25.250 | James Cole, BA, CFA | You can invest in it through Metro (MRU.A-T) (owns a small position) or by direct. Great long-term track record. Substantial exposure to the US. Hoping for a better buying opportunity. | 2006-05-31 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.700 | Chris Smith | A secular growth company. Clearly in the early stages of consolidating the convenient store market in the US. Have used extremely good judgement in how they finance their acquisitions. Looking for good solid growth for the next couple of years through organic growth as well as acquisitions. | 2006-05-29 | |
| DON'T BUY | 25.670 | David Baskin | Had lower margins on its gasoline. US consumers feels there is a conspiracy on gasoline prices which makes it very difficult for companies like this to raise gas prices. The stronger Canadian dollar has also hurt them. | 2006-05-02 | |
| BUY | 26.320 | Peter Hodson | Could have an upside of mid $30 in the next few months. US petroleum players are offloading retail stocks and this company is scooping them up. Stock has done very well over the last 4/5 years. Management has done a great job of integrating most of their acquisitions and there are a few more years of growth. | 2006-03-27 | |
| TOP PICK | 24.900 | Chris Smith | This is with his theme of looking for secular growth companies. Excellent management and very proactive on updating their systems. | 2006-03-21 | |
| BUY | 20.310 | John Zechner | Still likes, has a good growth strategy. Been driven on acquisitions lately. | 2005-09-29 | |
| DON'T BUY | 21.330 | Danny Tomka | Has had a great run, primarily on the US acquisition. Last numbers were pretty good. Margins were a little lower than expected on the gasoline business. Primarily an acquisition story. They've got to a size now where they need a meaningful acquisition, but there doesn't appear to be a target out there. Trades at 18 X earnings which is a little rich on an operating basis. | 2005-08-24 | |
| BUY | 20.800 | Werner Muehelemann | Essentially a long term buy. Doing a lot of acquisitions in the US. Getting a lot of synergies. The major risk in the performance of the stock is the fuel business. | 2005-08-09 | |
| BUY | 18.100 | Brendan Kyne | A roadside gas/covenience store. Recently acquired Circle K in the US which resulted in some one time costs which affected their quarterly results and the stock dropped a bit. Will take a couple of quarters to get integrated. Very attractive situation. | 2005-05-31 | |
| WEAK BUY | 17.090 | David Taylor, MBA, CFA | Not sure it's at a good entry point right now. One of the best run companies around. Good management. | 2005-04-25 | |
| STRONG BUY | 17.350 | John Zechner | Pulled back on last quarter's earnings being a little bit of a miss and there's an insider's block for sale. Likes the stock here. The growth strategy is very simple. Improve the profitability of the gas retail outlets by moving more of their non-gasoline oriented products and improving their margins. Great Buy here. | 2005-04-06 | |
| BUY | 17.250 | Brian Acker, CA | Likes it. Has a model price of $23.80 and that is after the analysts have ratcheted down a little bit in the sense of their earnings which they missed. | 2005-03-22 | |
| BUY | 18.750 | Matt Baillie | An excellent company. Made a huge acquisition in the US and seem to be doing a pretty good job. A very high cash flow and very high Return On Equity company. Levered up to make the acquisition but because they have such good ROE, the balance sheet gets fixed pretty quickly. | 2005-03-16 | |
| BUY | 39.750 | Fred Pynn | Bullish. Good job at making aquisitions. Good integration. | 2005-03-03 | |
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| BUY | 37.750 | Jean-Francois Tardif | Probably the best company in Quebec in the last 15 years. Earnings growth every year. Huge successful acquisition in the US. Stock is no longer cheap, but considering their success, he would give them credit for future growth. | 2005-02-24 | |
| BUY | 38.880 | Norman Levine | A big fan of this company. Good long term hold. | 2005-02-09 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 35.670 | Bruce Campbell | Have been waiting for a pullback as it's currently fully valued. | 2005-01-04 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 35.400 | Gavin Graham | (A Top Pick Nov 8/04. Up 20%.) Did a really good job in buying Circle K. | 2004-12-30 | |
| WEAK BUY | 34.150 | David Baskin | Very impressed by the company. Have done a terrific job on their US acquisition. Don't own because of their tobacco participation. THere is now a currency risk built into the stock. A low multiple based on their huge growth, but can they sustain the growth going forward? | 2004-12-16 | |
| BUY | 34.150 | Gavin Graham | Their big acquisition in the US seems to be working out well. Have a good track record. Expect higher earnings growth by 10/12% over the next year. | 2004-12-13 | |
| TOP PICK | 32.250 | Fred Pynn | Great management team. Now the 4th largest convenient store operator in North America. Had a great quarter. | 2004-11-24 | |
| TOP PICK | 29.550 | Gavin Graham | Acquisition has worked really well. | 2004-11-08 | |
| TOP PICK | 29.240 | Ian Nakamoto | The going-in P/E looks very high, but looking 1/2 years out, ot looks low. A quality company. An excellent record of acquisitions. | 2004-11-02 | |
| DON'T BUY | 28.210 | Peter Brieger | It is a leader in the convience store field. However, it is getting too crowded. The field is getting too competitious. | 2004-09-02 | |
| BUY | 27.550 | Norman Levine | Recently bought the Circle K chain of convenience stores in the US. Took on a big debt for this. Has huge growth opportunity. | 2004-08-04 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.530 | Brian Acker, CA | Model price is $28.41. Well-run company. It is priced correctly. | 2004-07-30 | |
| WEAK BUY | 26.950 | Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA | Has become a lot more volatile. Made some acquisitions in the US that have gas stations. Multiple looks attractive, but be cautious. | 2004-07-23 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.300 | Blair Wilson | Just reported better-than-expected results. Would not commit new money at this time. | 2004-07-22 | |
| BUY | 23.370 | Glenn Paradis, BA, CFA | Margins have been heard on the retail gasoline side. No seeing the transition happen with their big acquisition. There will be good earnings and cash flow growth. Good management team. | 2004-06-30 | |
| WAIT | 23.370 | James Cole, BA, CFA | Great company, but widely unknown outside of Québec. Acquisition in the US has given it a much wider profile. Earnings are expected to double this year. Balance sheet is a little bit stretched. Would wait to see how the integration goes. | 2004-06-30 | |
| TOP PICK | 23.500 | Fred Pynn | Investors have been spooked because of the most recent quarterly report where earnings came up a bit short. That was a result of a contraction of gasoline margins in the US. Expects better earnings. | 2004-05-25 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.470 | David Baskin | Too much of their money is made selling cigarettes which he is against. The US stores that they purchased are in commodities businesses such as cigarettes, candy bars, etc. and these have difficulty raising margins. Stock is a little expensive. | 2004-04-27 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 28.600 | Norman Levine | If it had a nice selloff, it would be a stock they would consider. Good earnings growth, excellent management and has moved into some new markets in the US. | 2004-03-12 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.150 | Gavin Graham | Just bought the Circle K. convenience store chain which is a good deal. Consistent earnings growth in the 36/40% range. | 2004-02-24 | |
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| BUY on WEAKNESS | 25.850 | Vincent Delisle | Integrating a large acquisition in the US. Buy in the $24 range. | 2004-02-16 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 23.350 | Norman Levine | Likes the company, but would like to see a sell off before buying. Got ahead of itself and would like a 10% + pull back. | 2003-12-04 | |
| TOP PICK | 22.700 | Vincent Delisle | Recent acquisition will increase its exposure to the US market. This will almost double revenues and more then double earnings per share. | 2003-12-02 | |
| TOP PICK | 18.510 | Mark Jackson, CFA | The large acquisition they did of CircleK has lots of opportunities for them to continue to grow and increase margins. Going through a significant program of store upgrades. Valuation looks fairly attractive. | 2001-08-27 |
