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| BUY on WEAKNESS | 6.950 | Bruce Campbell | School buses are not too economically sensitive and this pays a pretty good dividend. Safe yield. Valuation is a little stretched. Try to get at $6.45. | 2012-02-06 | |
| Comment | 6.040 | Benj Gallander | Transportation is a great industry to be but the numbers didn't excite him. Doesn't know what the payout ratio is so he can say how secure the dividends are. When companies are so exciting and there is so much praise about them, that is a good time to think about getting out. | 2011-11-03 | |
| BUY | 6.080 | Greg Newman | Yield is excellent. Pretty adequately covered (76% payout). Did a really good job in the next quarter contracting revenue growth for next year. One risk is that with budget cutbacks, one wonders how much growth they can have going forward. They have had momentum and a lot of revenues are levered to the US where there are budget problems. | 2011-09-22 | |
| DON'T BUY | 5.950 | Michael Simpson, CFA | (Market Call Minute.) Student Transportation. Making too many acquisitions. Can’t manage their debt or payout. | 2010-12-02 | |
| DON'T BUY | 5.710 | Norman Levine | Because of the strong quest for yield, stock has become overpriced. There will come a point when they have to decide if they are going to grow or cut the yield to finance growth. | 2010-10-06 | |
| DON'T BUY | 5.800 | Jason Donville | Student transportation. Not negative on this but there are better places for income right now. | 2010-10-04 | |
| HOLD | 5.820 | Jim Huang | (Market Call Minute.) Good solid name. | 2010-09-30 | |
| DON'T BUY | 5.800 | Jason Donville | Yield is probably sustainable. Strong cash flow but a lot of that comes from depreciation of fixed assets rather than amortization of tangible assets. | 2010-08-30 | |
| BUY | 5.500 | Don Lato | 4th or 5th largest student transportation company in North America. Recession resistant. Just made an acquisition of the Sudbury student buses. Doesn't see a lot of upside but it has a very nice, safe yield of 10.3%. | 2010-07-21 | |
| BUY | 5.270 | Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI | Convertible debenture. He thinks it is a good bond. Likes the company. Chart is not too bad. It’s a bit choppy because of the low activity. | 2010-06-09 | |
| Comment | 5.390 | Jim Huang | Good defensive play by getting a little expensive. Expects they will have to issue units to sustain their growth. Attractive yields. | 2010-04-19 | |
| DON'T BUY | 4.680 | Robert Lauzon | School bus transportation. Can have cost overruns with maintenance and fuel costs that they try to pass through as much as possible. He owns their convertible debentures, which is a better way to play it. | 2010-01-06 | |
| BUY | 4.720 | Norman Levine | School bus company. Nominally a Canadian company but vast majority of operations are in the US. Very high payout so doesn't expect dividend growth. Analyst statement they are not properly depreciating school buses was in error as they lease, not buy buses. Will have good steady growth and do lots of equity issues as it grows. | 2009-12-23 | |
| BUY | 4.360 | Don Lato | School buses. Very well run. Yield of about 12% is very sustainable. Have long-term contracts with a lot of the school boards both in Canada and the US. Not huge growth potential. | 2009-12-09 | |
| BUY | 4.600 | Norman Levine | It has become a corporation, dividend is 12% yield. It will not grow, nor be cut. He likes it very much. This is an under followed stock with great potential. | 2009-12-08 | |
| SELL | 4.360 | Ben Cheng | Had several issues in the past dealing with debt but have recently resolved some of that. Worries about some of the US states that have laid off 53,000 teachers. Cutbacks could also occur in bussing. | 2009-11-20 | |
| HOLD | 3.980 | Colin Stewart | One of the largest providers of school buses in NA. Great opportunities of synergies. Reasonable. | 2009-08-20 | |
| BUY | 3.380 | Michael Simpson, CFA | (Market Call Minute.) This is an IPS structure that has a common stock element and a bond attached to it. Just announced they are calling in all their IPS units and converting to common shares. | 2009-07-06 | |
| BUY | 3.460 | Norman Levine | School buses. American based company. Growth is through new contracts, buying other school bus companies or out bidding competition. Has been showing good growth. Small-cap and higher risk with distribution of 16%. Not economically sensitive. | 2009-06-08 | |
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| STRONG BUY | 3.510 | Jean-Francois Tardif | School buses are pretty much resistance to recession. 16% yield is pretty safe.Just bought some of this himself. | 2009-05-21 | |
| BUY | 7.810 | Michael Simpson, CFA | One of the best run school bus companies in North America. Have common shares as well as income trust units and over time will convert them all to common. | 2009-03-25 | |
| BUY | 8.110 | Sandy McIntyre | Stock has largely been unwound into a common stock structure. Continue to win contracts. School boards are looking to outsource suppliers of services. 13.5% yield. | 2009-01-22 | |
| TOP PICK | 4.000 | Don Lato | School bus company. 14.5% yield. Was an income deposit security, a common share plus a debenture. Have done 2 exchange offers in the last year where they exchanged debentures for common shares. Was trashed without a whole lot of thought to the fundamentals of their business. | 2008-11-19 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 9.470 | Sandy McIntyre | (A Top Pick Aug 13/07. Down 44%.) This is school buses and kids are still going to school. Exposure to fuel costs is minimal as school boards pay for fuel. Good Buy. | 2008-10-24 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 9.250 | Sandy McIntyre | (A Top Pick Aug 14/07. Down 8%.) Operations are doing fine. Treating it as a Hold. | 2008-08-15 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 10.300 | Michael Simpson, CFA | (A Top Pick Nov 3/06. Down 10%.) About 15% of bus revenue is from Canada and 85% from the US. A British company is buying Laidlaw which will have to divest some of their US school bus lines giving this company a good opportunity. | 2007-11-08 | |
| TOP PICK | 11.600 | Sandy McIntyre | Making an offer of all holders of their subordinate debentures for an exchange to common shares. A well-capitalized equity with a high dividend in a year from now. Good price. | 2007-08-13 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 11.890 | Michael Simpson, CFA | (A Top Pick Nov 3/06. Up 3%.) 5th largest school bus service in North America. Won’t be impacted by government’s income trust legislation. Good management. | 2007-07-04 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 11.650 | Michael Simpson, CFA | (A Top Pick Nov 3/06. Up 1%.) Student transportation. They have opportunities to expand in Ontario. Decent margins. Won't be affected by Trust legislation. | 2007-02-23 | |
| BUY | 11.550 | Michael Simpson, CFA | 5th largest school bus company in Canada. Industry is still fragmented and can be consolidated. Diesel prices are locked in with a hedge. Cheap. | 2006-11-03 | |
| WEAK BUY | 13.350 | Michele Robitaille | A US company that is rolled into the Canadian structure. Focused on rural areas in the US so there is less competition. Pretty good growth opportunities. A pretty good company and pretty well run. Not cheap. | 2005-12-19 | |
| BUY | 11.800 | Michael Simpson, CFA | Thinks highly of management which was formerly Laidlaw's Bus management. Have been making acquisitions and one of them is where 70% of their fuel costs is paid for by the customer. Still buying. | 2005-10-07 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 13.590 | Robert Lauzon | (A Top Pick Apr 8/05. Up 10%.) Expects this company to consolidate a bit of the industry over the summer. Sees some upside. | 2005-06-17 | |
| TOP PICK | 14.000 | Matt Baillie | 5th biggest busing company in the US. Long term assets and recession proof. They are acquirers and expect they will make acquisitions this summer. | 2005-06-01 | |
| TOP PICK | 12.320 | Robert Lauzon | 5th largest bus company, bussing students to schools in the US. Highly fragmented market. Good management. Stable. 20% margins. | 2005-04-08 | |
| STRONG BUY | 12.320 | Matt Baillie | Was a Top Pick. Hasn't done very much, but it's held its own during the selloff. Very stable. Long contracts that tend to stay around. Passing through about 40% of the energy costs. Energy costs would be the one negative on the whole story. Expects the management to double the company in the next 5 years. | 2005-04-08 | |
| WEAK BUY | 12.500 | Michele Robitaille | A good little company. Focused on providing bus services for schools in the rural areas in the US. Has 100% payout ratio which she doesn't like. Has had a quite a run up. | 2005-03-18 | |
| TOP PICK | 12.400 | Matt Baillie | A school bus company. Very stable cash generator. Recession proof. Very low payout ratio. Keeps making tuck-in aquisitions for growth. Long term contracts with the school boards. | 2005-03-16 | |
| TOP PICK | 12.550 | Matt Baillie | Pays over 11.5% distribution. A good type of company for an income trust as it spins a lot of cash and is recession proof. Contracts with school boards are pretty long term. Good price. | 2005-01-27 |