| DON'T BUY | 13.000 | Michael Simpson, CFA | 4 main divisions, propane, pulp chemicals, energy management and construction materials. Q2 was okay with a lot of strength coming from the pulp chemicals. Has been de-levering the balance sheet. Debt to cash flow is 3X, which is too much for him. | 2008-09-19 | |
| DON'T BUY | 12.270 | Michael Simpson, CFA | Results where a bit soft in Q1. Making progress in paying down debt and lowering their payout ratio. Before buying they would have to make further progress on reducing their debt level. | 2008-05-14 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 13.730 | Robert Lauzon | Looks like their turn around plan is working. Expects Q1 to be quite good because of the cold winter. Have some businesses tied to home building, which hasn’t been as bad as he thought and have been manageable. Natural gas marketing is starting to get some market share in Ontario. Debt is higher than he likes, but they are getting good earnings. Buy in the low $13’s. | 2008-04-28 | |
| DON'T BUY | 12.180 | Sandy McIntyre | 12.8% yield and distribution appears to be sustainable. Went through a period where they expanded too much with a little too much leverage and they had to shrink the number of businesses they were in to pay down debt. Doesn't qualify for his balance sheet ratios. | 2008-02-26 | |
| DON'T BUY | 11.260 | Dean Orrico | Sold most of his holdings near its highs. Original CEO, one of the best in the trusts, is back in the saddle and focused on the business. This won't be a high yield investment. | 2008-01-29 | |
| BUY | 13.700 | John Stephenson | Has done really well lately. Has a very good deal. | 2007-08-08 | |
| HOLD | 14.710 | Ian Nakamoto | Has had a really rough ride and had to cut its distributions. They are now in a reorganization mode. Ranks quite well in his quantitative screens. | 2007-05-14 | |
| SELL | 12.980 | Andrew Guy, CFA | In the process of turning itself around. They grew too quickly and took on too much debt. Not trying to sell one of their businesses. Given the track record, he's not sure that he would give them the benefit of the doubt. | 2007-04-09 | |
| HOLD | 12.880 | Neil Wickham | Did a lot of acquisitions in the past and some of them turned out to be not very good. Have spun off a couple of them. Payout ratio of about 90%. Earnings are starting to improve, so distribution is probably safe. Still have a lot of work to do. | 2007-03-20 | |
| DON'T BUY | 12.880 | Michael Simpson, CFA | Debt levels and payout ratios were too high. They are starting to address that by selling business lines to pay down debt. Still not comfortable with the debt levels. | 2007-03-20 | |
| DON'T BUY | 12.220 | Michael Simpson, CFA | Originally came out as a propane company, and then diversified into pulp chemicals, aluminum fabrication, construction materials, etc. Sold their aluminum. Debt level is far too high. Could be a distribution cut. | 2007-02-23 | |
| BUY | 11.720 | Chris Rankin, MBA, CFA | Sold off their aluminum asset, which was a positive. They now have reasonable leverage. Chemical division is very reliant on the Ontario power market for supply. There has been a reduction in wholesale rates, which gives them underlying support. Thinks it will do very well here. | 2007-02-09 | |
| SELL | 11.940 | Andrew Guy, CFA | Started out very well, but management got too diversified. They are trying to sell off some of their poorer assets and refocus on their original business. Propane is a slowly declining business. | 2007-02-08 | |
| SELL | 11.430 | Michele Robitaille | Have a number of operational issues. Sold their aluminum business, which allowed them to reduce their debt. Still face a number of challenges, particularly their propane business. Their other 2 businesses are the third toward the housing sector. | 2007-02-02 | |
| HOLD | 11.250 | Robert Floyd | Industrial trusts are probably in a better position than some of the commodity trusts. This one has been beaten down. If you own it, continue to hold. | 2007-01-19 | |
| SELL | 10.800 | John Stephenson | There are a lot of challenges in being a trust. Had a failed conglomerate strategy. Has turned around. | 2007-01-05 | |
| SELL | 10.900 | David Cockfield | Still haven’t divested themselves of some of those companies they bought and the propane business doesn’t seem to be very great. | 2006-12-27 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 13.640 | David Baskin | (A Top Pick Oct 24/05. Down 45%.) Cut the distribution twice in the spring. Sold after the first cut. Stumbled badly on acquisitions. Don't buy until you see a couple of more quarters. | 2006-10-23 | |
| BUY | 12.500 | David Baskin | The company had to cut distribution twice. Diminished confidence in trust. | 2006-09-28 | |
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| DON'T BUY | 12.280 | Chris Rankin, MBA, CFA | It is not a good time to enter. Company is trying to sell J.W. Alluminum. It is a risky time to enter.
| 2006-09-25 | |
| BUY | 12.250 | David Taylor, MBA, CFA | The leader in propane distribution. You are paying 6.5 X net adjusted cash flow whose business was depressed last year because of a mild winter. Will sell their aluminum business. Believes the distribution is safe. | 2006-09-12 | |
| DON'T BUY | 11.960 | Paul Gardner, CFA | A disaster. Management decided to diversify into chemical businesses, potassium products as well as wall/ceiling products. Cut their distributions twice. Expect they will have to reorganise. | 2006-09-05 | |
| SELL | 10.870 | Patrick Kim | Fairly valued at this point. There is still a significant amount of risk. There are significant corporate actions that need to be resolved. Have had 2 distribution cuts in the last year. | 2006-08-04 | |
| DON'T BUY | 10.920 | Bruce Hartman | Announced they were selling their aluminum division which is a positive step. Still feels they are involved in too many business lines. | 2006-07-14 | |
| SELL | 10.980 | Leslie Lundquist | Ran into difficulty earlier this year and cut their distributions and announced a restructuring. They are planning on selling their cold rolled aluminum division and apply the proceeds towards debt. CEO and CFO are being changed. Debt levels and payout ratio are too high. | 2006-07-13 | |
| HOLD | 10.980 | David Cockfield | Had a spectacular run as a propane distributor but began to see weakness in the propane market and diversified and ran into problems. Had a significant downturn in revenue and are talking about un-diversifying. If the stock moved up into the mid-teens, he would sell. | 2006-07-13 | |
| DON'T BUY | 10.820 | John Stephenson | Has several problems. Its core business, propane, is in structural decline. Have also gone off in 4/5 different directions. Their debt levels are up near their covenants. Not a pretty picture. | 2006-06-28 | |
| DON'T BUY | 11.670 | Glenn MacNeill, P.Eng. | Have had a negative outlook on this for some time. Have a virtual monopoly on the distribution of propane. Usage of propane is down. Has also gone into other areas and he prefers one industry. | 2006-06-16 | |
| BUY | 10.990 | David Taylor, MBA, CFA | Looks very interesting. Had dropped from $30 to $10 and at $10.25 he bought for his hedge fund. Trades at about 6.5 X enterprise value EBITDA. Absolutely dirt-cheap and if they sell some of their non-propane assets the market will realise that the underlying asset is very strong. | 2006-06-14 | |
| DON'T BUY | 12.030 | Ravi Sood | Had to cut distributions. No sure that it makes much sense for it to be trading higher. | 2006-05-26 | |
| DON'T BUY | 10.370 | Sandy McIntyre | A high cost producer of pulp chemicals. It's in a market that is contracting. What you want in this circumstance is the low cost producer which would be Canexus (CUS.UN-T). | 2006-05-12 | |
| SELL | 10.140 | Kevin Hall BComm, CFA | In the last year or so, they have started to diversify outside of the propane business. Some of those are running into trouble, especially the pulp chemical business. The war in winter hurt their propane business. Have cut distributions a couple of times the last one being 30%. | 2006-05-05 | |
| DON'T BUY | 10.880 | David Baskin | Was blindsided by their second cut in distributions. This is absolutely hammered the stock. They have a couple of businesses that are not shining at the moment. These include propane and pulp chemicals. Sold all his holdings. Expect its dead money for 2 or 3 quarters. | 2006-05-02 | |
| SELL | 11.490 | Michele Robitaille | A bit of a disappointment. Had some concerns about their underlying operating businesses. They have cut distributions for the second time. It will continue having some challenges. | 2006-04-26 | |
| WAIT | 16.610 | Patrick Kim | Very diversified holdings but were hard hit by the propane distribution portion of the business. Hasn’t been helped by the warn winters we have been experiencing. Valuation wise, it is looking relatively attractive, but wait until the Q1 results are released when it is expected the price will drop further and that would be a reasonable time to get in. | 2006-04-21 | |
| DON'T BUY | 16.660 | Robert Lauzon | Share price has been almost cut in half. Propane business has slowed. Acquired businesses in other areas that are not as high quality. Payout ratio is now 100%. No catalyst to make it go up in the near term. | 2006-04-07 | |
| HOLD | 16.500 | Norman Levine | Management has moved the company from being solely propane to a number of different companies. Propane sales were down this winter because of the warm season. They had to cut back on distributions. Has probably dropped more than it should have but don't buy on till it has stopped. | 2006-04-04 | |
| DON'T BUY | 17.200 | Michael Simpson, CFA | Has propane, but diversified into other industries such as building materials, aluminum fabrication. They were hurt by the warmer winter, as demand for propane was weak. Too much debt on their balance sheet. | 2006-03-31 | |
| DON'T BUY | 17.750 | Robert Lauzon | Has been a big disappointment over the last year. Made some acquisitions which has created more volatility. Payout ratio is 100%. Have just cut distributions. | 2006-03-24 | |
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| SELL | 18.120 | Michele Robitaille | Superior Plus is a trust they did hold for a long time but has gradually been decreasing their holdings. For the last couple of years ago Superior has been diversifying and entering new businesses. They have had mediocre performances after the trust expanded. There is weakness in their propane division because of mild weather and the high cost of propane. They have had to cut their distribution. Payout ratio is 96%. The next 6-12 months will be challenging for this trust. | 2006-03-17 | |
| WAIT | 21.850 | Leslie Lundquist | Superior Trust is one that they have liked for a long time. In the long term it will do just fine. However, 2005 was a difficult year for them and they have yet to see 4th quarter results. Expectations are they might be a little weak. If you are looking for one for your first trusts, she is recommending Canadian REIT, Penn West, Yellow Pages Business Fund and BFI. (they own these trusts) These trusts are expensive though. | 2006-03-04 | |
| HOLD | 21.340 | Kevin Hall BComm, CFA | Has had a bit of a rough go. Starting to stabilise. Demand for propane will be down which will have a negative impact on revenues. They have diversified. Expects some better results through the year. | 2006-02-17 | |
| HOLD | 22.600 | Dean Orrico | Has a fantastic track record with an excellent management team. Propane demand has been decreasing so management diversified into areas, a lot of which were related to the housing market. Management has proven time after time that it is able to perform. | 2006-02-03 | |
| WATCH | 23.660 | James Leung | They have a business model that continues to diversify. Its core business was propane but in recent years have made acquisitions not related to the original business. Have some operational issues which management is addressing. | 2006-01-27 | |
| SELL | 23.630 | Greg Guichon | The acquisitions they were making bothered them. They were turning into a mini conglomerate. Prefers purer trusts. As much more commodity risks than other trusts. | 2006-01-20 | |
| WEAK BUY | 23.660 | Michele Robitaille | Has gone through quite a metamorphosis over the last couple of years. Has expanded from propane pulp chemicals, aluminum and a number of other areas. It is now almost a conglomerate model. Very strong management team. Probably a little bit undervalued given the strength of the underlying parts. | 2006-01-06 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.500 | Michael Simpson, CFA | One of the older trusts. Having embraced the conglomerate model very well. They have four or five operating divisions. Their colour business in propane has been in decline for some time. A decent management team, but is concerned with the amount of debt that they carry as well as the payout ratio. | 2005-12-30 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.700 | Robert Lauzon | Decreased his weighting in his funds. Could see the growth slowing in their propane business. Has now gone into a few other businesses. Doesn't think you will see much growth. | 2005-12-23 | |
| BUY | 24.950 | Glenn MacNeill, P.Eng. | A multifaceted trust. Involved in propane distribution, pulp and paper, wall coverings. Has some reasonable good assets, but doesn’t care for multifaceted businesses. | 2005-12-14 | |
| HOLD | 21.790 | James Leung | In the last several years have started to diverisfy from propane into areas such as a pulp chemical, dry wall and flat rolled aluminum. During the last couple of quarters, there were performance issues with the original propane business. | 2005-11-11 | |
| DON'T BUY | 22.500 | David Chapman | 11% distribution. Has suffered with all the other trusts and is in a downtrend right now. Can't see any bounce here at all. If you have owned for a while and have a profit, consider taking some money off the table. | 2005-11-09 | |
| HOLD | 22.040 | Patrick Kim | One of the hardest hit business trusts. There's a lot of company challenges, particularily in the propane distribution business. Volumes are down. Have a fairly diversified asset base. Expects to see some choppy waters ahead. | 2005-11-04 | |
| HOLD | 23.830 | Kevin Hall BComm, CFA | They have 4 different business lines. Has been really beaten up. Probably over sold. | 2005-10-28 | |
| TOP PICK | 24.570 | David Baskin | All 3 picks tonight are income trusts as the sector has been massively oversold. With the government's white paper, the stopping of getting legal opinions and the fear of rising interest rates people sold them as though they were worthless. Just increased their distribution giving a 10% yield. | 2005-10-24 | |
| SELL | 23.750 | Greg Guichon | Has moved from a very simple trust to a very complex one covering many industries. These industries are very cyclical. Too complex to follow. | 2005-10-21 | |
| BUY | 25.960 | Michael Simpson, CFA | Recently bought aluminum fabricator in the US. At this price feels it offers a reasonable risk/reward ratio. | 2005-10-07 | |
| WAIT | 26.280 | Dean Orrico | Stock dropped because propane distribution has been dropping and may not turn around any time soon. Good management which has diversified the business into other areas. Areas have not performed that well either. Just acquired a manufacturer of flat rolled aluminum products which is positive. Expect it to go sideways for awhile. | 2005-09-30 | |
| SELL | 26.080 | Robert Lauzon | Has sold off a little bit. Has slowly moved from a growth trust to a more of a low to no growth. Seeing some cracks in some of their underlying businesses. | 2005-09-23 | |
| BUY | 28.800 | Michele Robitaille | Had a pretty disappointing 2nd quarter which was a surprise to the market. With regards to issues on their propane division, she does feel this will be in a secular slow decline, but very slowly and it was a one time issue. Sees some good strength in some of their other businesses. Good management. | 2005-09-16 | |
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| TOP PICK | 28.800 | Leslie Lundquist | Reported a weak 2nd quarter and the units came off quite hard. It has a very strong business and an excellent management team. In the long run this will be a company that continues to create value. Periodically it does report a weak quarter and this is an opportunity to buy. | 2005-09-16 | |
| BUY | 27.890 | David Baskin | Took a dive last month because the results were kind of lousy. The propane division had a really bad quarter. The rest of the company did pretty well. Very strong management. Buying it for his new clients. Good price. | 2005-09-08 | |
| WEAK BUY | 28.460 | Patrick Kim | Price dropped 15% on the release of their Q2 results. Most of the problem was with the propane division. Building supplies division did very well and the chemicals division was decent. Very close to 100% payout ratio which is a big concern. Has a great track record of increasing distribution growth. | 2005-08-19 | |
| HOLD | 28.200 | Norman Levine | The new businesses that they acquired have not shown the same characteristics of growth that the propane did. Propane seems to be slowing down a bit. Earnings were less than what market was looking for so the stock sold off. Hold as an income, not a growth. | 2005-08-15 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.530 | Sandy McIntyre | Just reported. Their propane business is now down to about 40/45% of the total. Reported disappointing volumes, but more important, disappointing margins. Have been selling this one over the past year. Concerned about the propane business long term. Their other businesses are also cyclical businesses. | 2005-08-12 | |
| BUY | 32.520 | Dean Orrico | A great name. Good management that has been able to diversify from just propane. Very stable for income. | 2005-07-29 | |
| TOP PICK | 32.200 | Leslie Lundquist | (A Top Pick Jan 10/05. Up 9.5%.) Strong management team. Businesses are suitable and appropriate for a trust structure. Superb track record. The existing distribution stream is secure from its core propane distribution and pulp chemical business. On top of that there is some opportunity for growth as they are expanding their chemical business, plus they are into a new line, dry wall and building products distribution. | 2005-07-22 | |
| BUY | 30.710 | Patrick Kim | A high quality diversified trust. Saw explosive growth in the price, but getting more difficult to put together those kinds of acquisitions that will matter, because it is getting large. | 2005-06-10 | |
| TOP PICK | 30.680 | David Baskin | Over the last few years, the company has reinvented itself as a mini conglomerate. Have 2 chemical businesses, a building products division, an energy marketing business. A well managed trust that's raised its distributions pretty much every year. Not cheap at this price, but not too expensive either. | 2005-06-09 | |
| BUY | 30.640 | Dan Bastasic | 65% payout ratio. Have diversified in the last couple of years through acquisitions and so should experience quite a bit of growth going forward. Free cash flow in relation to free cash distributions is close to 90% and is lower than what he would like to see but should be able to grow into it with their new acquisitions. | 2005-05-27 | |
| TOP PICK | 31.190 | Leslie Lundquist | Very strong management team. Long record of increased distributions and shareprice gains. Diversified in a variety of unrelated businesses but complementary. 72% payout ratio. Not inexpensive. | 2005-05-20 | |
| HOLD | 31.400 | Kevin Hall BComm, CFA | Have become diversified into a few different areas. Continues to like the story, but it is probably pretty fully valued here. Top knotch management. | 2005-05-06 | |
| BUY | 29.870 | Norman Levine | Their biggest business is distributing propane. They have also diversified into other areas, such as appliance distribution, chemical distribution which he likes. | 2005-03-31 | |
| BUY | 32.040 | Sandy McIntyre | Stunning track record. Good management. Can grow. | 2005-03-04 | |
| HOLD | 31.510 | Dean Orrico | Used to be a propane distribution business only, but made acquisitions in unrelated business which are generating relatively stable levels of cash flow. Good management. Has had a good run. | 2005-02-25 | |
| BUY | 30.600 | David Baskin | Has raised their distributions for several years. Great management. | 2005-01-25 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 30.020 | Blair Wilson | Management has done an extremely good job in growing cash distributions. Have also diversified away from just propane and into propane, pulp chemicals and gyprock and have been able to lock in profit margins. About an 8% yield. Fairly valued. | 2005-01-18 | |
| TOP PICK | 29.300 | Leslie Lundquist | (A Top Pick on Nov 17/04. Down 2.7%.) Have raised their distribution every year in the past 8 years. Very strong management team and a good portfolio of businesses should continue to produce value for investors. | 2005-01-10 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 29.900 | Bruce Campbell | Diverted into chemicals and more recently into building products where they have opportunities to diversify and grow. Still 50% propane. Management has a good track record of integration. A good trust. | 2005-01-04 | |
| SELL | 30.020 | Peter Brieger | Made a good move into the non-toxic supplies for the pulp business and have since made other acquisitions. If you own, take profits. | 2004-12-31 | |
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| DON'T BUY | 28.000 | Hugh McCauley | Feels the company is in transition from a growth story to a more stable yield story. An average trust with stable distribution over the next couple of years. Prefers growth trusts. | 2004-12-02 | |
| HOLD | 29.130 | Blair Wilson | Has one of the best track records for stable and growing distributions. Management is very good at maintaining profit margins. Valuation is a little expensive. Have a 2 sector perform. | 2004-11-26 | |
| TOP PICK | 29.390 | Leslie Lundquist | (A Top Pick March 22/04. Up 4%.) Actually up about 9% when distributions are included. Have increased distributions twice. Excellent management team. | 2004-11-17 | |
| DON'T BUY | 28.840 | Ben Cheng | Views it as a grand experiment as it is taking on the aspects of a conglomerate in the income trust sector. Good management. Most of the capital gains is done in the short term. | 2004-11-12 | |
| BUY | 28.220 | Bill Harris, CFA | A near monolpoly in the distribution area. A relly solid budsiness. | 2004-10-29 | |
| TOP PICK | 27.850 | Leslie Lundquist | (A Top Pick March 22/04. Down slightly, but have had nice distributions, so actually up 5%.) This was picked just before the limitation on pension holdings which dropped all trusts. No currency risks. 8.5% yield. Not cheap, but doesn't tend to get cheap. | 2004-10-07 | |
| HOLD | 27.750 | Blair Wilson | Has a neutral position on it. | 2004-10-01 | |
| BUY | 26.720 | David Baskin | Still likes this trust very much. | 2004-09-09 | |
| TOP PICK | 26.530 | Leslie Lundquist | Has raised its distribution three times this year and expects increases to continue. | 2004-08-13 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 24.710 | David Baskin | (Past top pick May 12/04. Up 2%) Has a very steady, sustainable business model which allows it to keep its distributions going. | 2004-06-17 | |
| TOP PICK | 24.750 | Dean Orrico | One of the biggest and best income trust. Has increased its cash flow every year as well as its distribution. Superb management. Good low risk entry point. | 2004-05-26 | |
| TOP PICK | 24.240 | Leslie Lundquist | Very strong management team. Good outlook for increased distributions. Weak first quarter in propane side but has had a management change which should correct it. Long-term outlook is excellent. Good price. | 2004-05-18 | |
| TOP PICK | 24.200 | David Baskin | (A top pick Apr 13/04. Down 13%.) Still likes. Good price. One of the best business oriented trusts around. Would benefit from inflation. | 2004-05-14 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 23.720 | Hugh McCauley | Used to be a great growth story. Would have to make an acquisition for any future growth. Will probably be at this level for the next couple of years. There may be a trading opportunity in the near-term if they sell off further.. | 2004-05-13 | |
| BUY | 25.800 | David Cockfield | Very competent management. Getting into a buy range. | 2004-04-26 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.250 | Leslie Lundquist | Has increased its distributions every year since inception. Good price. | 2004-04-15 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.600 | David Baskin | Distribution is solid and has a history of growing every year. Good management. 9% yield. | 2004-04-13 | |
| BUY | 26.360 | Allan Meyer | Instead of paying a bonus payment this year, they decided to level their payments and this created a drop in the price. Disbursements have been increased. Great management. | 2004-04-12 | |
| TOP PICK | 28.180 | Leslie Lundquist | (A top pick Sep 5/03. Up 27.4%.) Good management team. A very stable business. Continuing to look for further acquisitions. | 2004-03-22 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.260 | Peter Brieger | Will move with a softwood/pulp sector and doesn't see an agreement with the US until at least after the election. | 2004-03-01 | |
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| BUY | 25.280 | David Baskin | Pays over 9%. Very steady business. | 2004-01-07 | |
Experts that have talked about Superior Plus Income Fund
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