STOCKCHASE

15.6% distribution but you don’t get a lot of capital gains. This is a company that is in a very tough business position. Directories were very profitable. They are diversified in on-line content but it takes a lot of volume to match what they got in print. This is not a business model that he wants to be in.

2010-08-25

SELL

5.200

Brian Acker, CA

Income now is in line with their distributions. Thinks they will earn $.80 this year and their distribution is $.80. Also it has to convert by the end of this year and will end up having to pay taxes.

2010-08-17

SELL

5.250

Michael Decter

Owns our little and is undecided whether to Sell or Hold. It looks like the market leaves there is going to be a distribution cut. It was expected the Internet would take over but the company has coped quite well with that.

2010-08-16

DON'T BUY

5.730

Fundamentals in this industry are changing rapidly. Recent results shows revenue from hard copy is very sensitive to the economic climate. For each $1 they lose in hard copy, they have to get a lot more online advertising to raise the same amount of revenue. Relatively high payout ratio.

2010-07-28

DON'T BUY

5.890

Had problems with a poor balance sheet and an execution strategy. Hit hard with the 2006 income trust changes. Now refocusing and re-branding as a service provider to get their name in the Internet. Competition could be fierce.

2010-07-26

BUY

5.910

Steve Carlin

Very unique business model. Very narrow range where you Buy and Sell. Anything below $6 is a Buy. Really juicy yield and he doesn't think they will cut their distribution. The big concern is what the business will look like in a couple of years.

2010-07-20

HOLD

5.930

Benj Gallander

(Market Call Minute)

2010-07-13

BUY

5.760

Martin Hubbes, CFA

Won't be a lot of growth of this story but reasonable to buy at this price if you are more interested in yield. 11% yield.

2010-07-05

DON'T BUY

5.960

Market share is being eaten away by other sources. Have been trying very hard to move into the wired world but for every $1 they gain, they lose more on their print side. With industry changing in a fundamental way, you have to be careful. 13% distribution could be at risk.

2010-06-30

BUY

6.120

Yellow pages: 5.25% 2015. Comfortable with the name. Good profit margin. Customer has already made the transition from the paper onto the web site. No problem with the credit.

2010-06-07

HOLD

6.260

Not been a fan of this for years but now taking a hard look. Not sure if it will grow into its share price. Migrating over to small/medium businesses and margins will be good on this. Doesn't have the competitive advantage anymore. Trading at around 7X EBITDA but should be at around 6. Thinks 12.75% yield is sustainable.

2010-05-28

DON'T BUY

6.620

Benj Gallander

$.80 distribution will be a $.60 dividend when they convert. Tremendous payout but they have a lot of debt on the balance sheet. People do not use Yellow Pages much any more. Has difficulty understanding how they can continue with the big payouts.

2010-05-13

PARTIAL SELL

6.520

Never been a fan of this company, the business model or the outlook for them. Trying to diverse away from the “book” and getting more internet related. Worries they go from being a monopoly in print to being just another name on the Internet. If a big part of your portfolio, look to diversify.

2010-05-05

DON'T BUY

6.570

Douglas Kee

Not big fan of this one. Distributions will decline. The model concerns him. They can't keep growing through acquisitions.

2010-04-20

Comment

6.450

Dean Orrico

Looking at converting to a corporation. Successfully refinanced some of its debt. People are using less and less telephone directories and the jury is still out on how well they transition to digital. Reasonably priced and getting pretty good yield.

2010-04-16

WEAK BUY

6.220

Randy LeClair

Preferred shares? A little below his credit rating minimum quality. Can't see any imminent trouble with it but doesn't have the financial strength that credit rating agencies are going to give it an investment grade thumbs up. Bit of a risk.

2010-03-29

HOLD

6.000

Preferred bonds with 7% yield. Preferreds would rank a little below on the capital structure. Comfortable with this name.

2010-03-11

BUY

5.850

Michael Decter

(Market Call Minute.) A little concerned about the labour dispute in Quebec but have been paying down their debt. Looks like a good long-term hold.

2010-03-08

BUY

5.850

Colin Stewart

High free cash flow yield. Increased competition from Internet but stock price reflects that. They are doing a good job in developing their own Internet based business.

2010-03-05

BUY

5.860

They are getting the message that they have to de-leverage their balance sheet. Announced they will pay $.80 and drop to $.65 distribution plus limit themselves to small acquisitions.

2010-02-23

SELL

5.780

Peter Brieger

(Market Call Minute) Has been buying the preferred shares, which will increase when they cut the distribution, which they will.

2010-02-17

TOP PICK

5.670

He likes it when the analysts collectively hate something. It is a simple business that is tied to the growth of our economy. As the Canadian economy does better, this stock will benefit. Online business is being ignored too much and it is growing at 20%. Yield will be cut when they convert. Distribution will drop to $0.65 and the extra capital will be used to pay down debt.

2010-02-12

BUY

5.390

Derek Webb, CFA

An interesting stock because of its high yield. Doesn't fit his style because earnings have been de-accelerating but this is a stock you can own. Even if they, it will probably still be in the low double digits.

2010-02-11

Comment

5.180

Don Lato

There will be a circular sent out sometime towards the end of March proposing a date for the meeting regarding conversion to a corporation. Street has mixed reactions as to whether distributions will be cut and by how much. Even so, you could still end up with a 12%-13% yield. Although business is not growing, it is stable.

2010-02-10

HOLD

5.220

Benj Gallander

(Market Call Minute) Would not race to buy

2010-02-09

BUY

5.250

Jim Huang

Current distribution is around 15.5%. Will probably cut their distributions to about 12% when they convert to a corporation, which is still quite good. Face some challenges transitioning from print media to online media but they are managing it well.

2010-01-29

BUY

5.340

Dean Orrico

Sentiment is a big headwind for this company because of fewer people using Yellow Pages. Healthy 15% yield that he thinks can be maintained for 2010 giving you a good cushion against any downward move in the price. Trades in a range of $5 to a little over $6 so treat as a trading stock.

2010-01-20

Comment

5.600

Robert Lauzon

(Market Call Minute.) If growth continues in the economy, expects this will start moving back towards $6. Pretty good yield.

2010-01-06

SELL

5.380

Laura Wallace

Doesn't like their fundamentals, what is an older business model. There are some issues with distributions as they will be looking at conversion. There is a better place for your money.

2009-12-31

DON'T BUY

5.350

Bruce Campbell

Sold his holdings because of worries on the balance sheet but they have been addressing it quite well by pushing their maturities out. Debt is still pretty high. Auto Traders hasn't worked. Didn't want to take a chance of a cut in distributions again. Their recent reset preferreds would be a better deal as they are yielding over 7%.

2009-12-30

Comment

5.350

Bonds. These are rated BBB Low. Biggest risk in the short-term would be refinancing risk or a decline in customers coming back.

2009-12-29

DON'T BUY

5.300

Possibility of distribution being cut. Conversion soon. Market share being eaten up by Internet. Not a business model they like.

2009-12-22

Comment

5.200

Fairly substantial amount of debt through debentures, preferred shares outstanding and some bank debt. 15% yield. Have a very good engine in their Internet delivery of proximity-based retail solutions. Would like to see them put more cash into this. Speculative.

2009-12-14

Comment

5.480

Caller is Shorting. Risk/reward in terms of unit price is about balanced. Pretty hefty yield that you carry if you are shorting and this is a risky one to Short.

2009-11-25

DON'T BUY

5.350

He has always disliked them. There was a huge debt problem. Does not like their business model. The advertising revenue that they get is old school. It’s really messy. It’s been depressed for so long that he would not be surprised if they recovered 20-40% but this is not his game.

2009-11-24

DON'T BUY

5.350

Paul Harris, CFA

Doesn’t like it. They have done some things that have helped restructure the company. They should have cit the yield more. The business will deteriorate over time.

2009-11-03

Comment

5.420

Derek Webb, CFA

Bad story that just keeps going on. Monster yield but cannot get out of the way of it self. If you're okay clipping the coupon, hang on. Have some huge structural problems. You no longer use Yellow Pages but you look up Google. 14.76% yield.

2009-10-29

BUY

5.590

Don Lato

Dividend is sustainable. Company has vowed they can maintain the distribution as a dividend. It’s got a long road to go to get back to $10. They are having to migrate to an online format and they are slow at doing that.

2009-10-21

DON'T BUY

5.630

John Zechner

Worried about everything going electronic. Their distribution may come down. There is no prospect of growth.

2009-10-20

SELL

5.640

(Market Call Minute.) Too much competition coming in, in a declining market.

2009-10-14

Comment

5.600

Colin Stewart

Cautious on Yellow Pages business. Big secular decline in that kind of print advertising. If you Short this, you have the issue of paying distributions.

2009-10-08

HOLD

5.490

Prakash Hariharan

(Market Call Minute) No. Get in below $5.

2009-09-29

SELL

5.530

Andrew McCreath

Recently had a significant lift as a result of their refinancing. This gives you an opportunity to Sell because it is a declining business.

2009-09-28

SELL

5.640

David Cockfield

You have to judge if the concept they have is going to survive. Thinks they will be under continuing pressure from the Internet.

2009-09-23

BUY

4.910

Bruce Campbell

Doesn’t have much downside from here. Likely they are going to hold the dividend. This is a great place to be if you are looking for yield. Restructured the balance sheet so now they don’t have anything coming due in the next little while.

2009-09-15

Comment

4.850

Have the free cash flow to fully fund all of their debt maturities for the next couple of years. Questions if the downturn in advertising is a cyclical phenomena because of the economy or if it is a secular decline with a long-term shift away from print advertising. She feels it is primarily cyclical.

2009-09-11

HOLD

4.900

John Zechner

(Market Call Minute) Yellow Pages. They’ve never delivered on the growth. Dividend is safe.

2009-09-08

HOLD

4.850

Andrew Guy, CFA

A business in transition and is in a difficult situation. Moving from Yellow Page books to online services. Declining advertising revenue has happened much quicker than they can ramp up online advertising. A lot of the bad news is built into the price. Have a proven balance sheet and a strong free cash flow. 16.6% yield.

2009-09-04

DON'T BUY

4.910

Paul Harris, CFA

Does not like it. Cutting dividend was a smart thing. Has under performed competitors. Does not like long-term perspective of business. Acquisitions should help.

2009-09-01

DON'T BUY

5.120

Hasn't liked this one for years. Doesn't like their business model. Printed page for accessing telephone numbers, etc. is a dying business. They are online, but people don't have to go to them as you can go directly to a company's website or Google. Pretty sure that when it is no longer a trust, payouts will be slashed.

2009-08-24

SELL

5.220

Colin Stewart

Not overly positive on this. High yield of about 18% but only because payout is at about 100% and doesn’t speak to the actual value. Internet search engines have put a lot of pressure on this. Balance sheet is pretty highly levered.

2009-08-20

SELL

5.020

Has disliked this story so much over the last 3 years. In the world of investments, everything is wrong with it. They are over leveraged and distributing too much. If you are not bullish on the economy, then this should go by the wayside.

2009-08-12

Comment

5.090

David Schaffner

Has been a very acquisitive company for the past few years and bond investors typically don't like this. There have been quite a few bonds issued by the holding company and he prefers bonds that are issued by the actual operating company. Also, some of their advertising revenue is starting to migrate to other media. Thinks there are better opportunities for the same value but the ones with the shorter maturity are not too bad.

2009-08-04

DON'T BUY

5.000

Lyle Stein

Not a fan of their business model. A bit of a legacy asset in that the print media is really hurting. Internet model is not the great generator of incremental cash flow.

2009-07-31

Comment

5.150

David Baskin

It will have to become a corporation in about 16 months, which will put the distribution at risk. Transitioning to a web based company, which is a much more crowded market than the Yellow Pages was. Not sanguine about the units alone he does have some preferred shares for more aggressive clients.

2009-07-27

SELL

5.000

Veronika Hirsch

(Market Call Minute.) Bad advertising market.

2009-07-17

BUY

4.930

Ken McCord

Likes this one. Great business. Continues to plod along. Getting some good ad revenue despite the bad economy. Very attractive yield, which he feels is safe.

2009-07-15

BUY

4.920

Preferred their preferred shares YPG.A-T or YPG.B-T but is now starting to reverse these trades and go back to the trust units at under $5. Would like more clarification by management on future plans come 2011 and what their real sustainable dividend will be.

2009-07-13

DON'T BUY

4.970

Never liked this one. Will hurt with the economy because it is somewhat discretionary. Auto Trader has hurt them in lost revenue. From a technology perspective, advertisers would prefer advertising on the Internet in other ways. Debt to EBITDA is at the high end at about 3.2 times. Starting to get their liquidity in order now. Recently cut their distribution. 16.1% return.

2009-07-08

DON'T BUY

4.970

Bonds. A little different dynamic from trust units. Recently issued 4 year 400 basis points above Government of Canada bonds. Even though they have a lot of debt, there is still room. He would still be very cautious because of the vulnerability with the economy and their technology. Probably better stories out there.

2009-07-08

Comment

4.960

Gavin Graham

Very disappointing. Cut distribution by 1/3. Difficulty is migration from paper Yellow Pages directories into web searching. Have joint venture with Google. Also have Auto Trader. Hopefully they will have a sustainable payout and continue to migrate to the electronic media.

2009-07-07

Comment

5.200

Owns more of their bonds than the common shares. Like all media companies it has been suffering during the recession. Also ongoing movement towards online advertising. Also have magazines catering to the automotive sector, which has also hurt. Feels distribution is okay for the rest of 2009.

2009-07-06

WEAK BUY

5.290

Ara Nalbandian

Has come down to about 6X EBITDA. Traditional yellow pages business has 30 million distributions over 300 publications and has been quite stable. Trader media side has seen significant declines (24%) in revenues and EBITDA is down more than that. Look for a 30%-40% cut in distributions once they convert to a corp. Reasonably valued. Declining business longer-term.

2009-07-03

DON'T BUY

5.340

1st quarter came in a little bit light. Longer-term problem is the loss of more and more of the advertising of the print market. Internet advertising earnings don't seem to be going up as fast as the erosion in their print.

2009-06-26

BUY

5.420

Steve Carlin

A real tough stock from a fundamental perspective. This slowdown in the economy, fundamentals have deteriorated significantly. Have been some concerns on the ability to continue 15% distributions but they are a lot less than the cash flows generated. He would invest in the stock simply for its yield.

2009-06-19

BUY

5.500

Michael Decter

Thinks 14.5% distributions are sustainable at the current level. Not at the top of his buy list but there is solid value at this level.

2009-06-15

Comment

5.290

Has never been a fan of this stock. An economically sensitive company and when times get tough smaller companies cut back. You can now use Internet to get business phone numbers. At this price, it is probably washed out and is a fair thing to start to accumulate.

2009-06-08

HOLD

5.570

5.25% maturing 2015. Valued at $.82 on the $1. Not a bad franchise. Has a strategic partnership with Google. Lower on the investment-grade spectrum.

2009-06-02

Comment

5.950

2 main problems have been facing this trust. Market felt they had too much debt so they cut distributions to address this. Also the long-term direction of the directory business. They have to do a better job of articulating their online strategy.

2009-05-22

Comment

6.060

Doesn't know this will look like in 5 years. A lot of competition coming into the directory business. Prefers businesses where he has visibility 5, 10, 15 years out. Good sales force and decent balance sheet. If they can get their web-based delivery accepted by the market as a growth story, it would get multiple expansion. 13% yield.

2009-05-14

DON'T BUY

5.520

Never liked it. Never liked the mutual fund space. Doesn’t think we will see much movement in this one or in the sector. 21% Dividend is safe. 81% payout ratio. There's some interest expense in there that hits the bottom line.

2009-05-04

Comment

5.750

Michael Herring

caller asked: Who gets paid first?: Debentures, Preferred Share holders, and finally common shareholder.

2009-04-28

VAGUE

5.860

Fallen quite dramatically. Many US counterparts have gone under. But has a well over 90% market share here. Concerns are that as economy slows, they will be affected. Larger ads might be taken to half a page and so on. Is a very good reflection on where the Canadian economy is. You can never say never regarding a distribution cut. 81% payout ratio.

2009-04-27

BUY

5.750

Charles Lannon

Distribution cuts will be the rule as we roll into 2011, but not this one. Would prefer their bonds at 8%

2009-04-23

DON'T BUY

6.070

Lyle Stein

Not a big fan of the model. Doesn't think the consumer strength that has driven the stock is going to be there over the next 3 to 4 years. Doesn't see this as a growth industry.

2009-04-08

BUY on WEAKNESS

5.940

Low cost high return form of advertising. Been range bound at about $5.50-$6 and thinks this will continue. $1.17 distribution should be safe throughout 2009. They will be re-evaluating their structure in 2010 preparing for a corporation conversion and there may be a cut at that point. The business is relatively stable. Good value level at around $5 but cut back at around $6-$6.50.

2009-04-02

BUY

5.850

5.71% April 21/14 bonds yielding 7.45% is a good investment. Fairly recession proof. Will be working with Google rather than in competition. Very good cash flow. Strong coverage ratios. The only concern is the $450 million maturity due this month but given the demand in the credit market he doesn’t see this as a problem.

2009-04-01

TOP PICK

6.290

5.85% bonds maturing Nov/19. Yield to maturity over 9%. In a recession media stocks get impacted because of smaller revenues and lower cash flows. This allows him to be higher up in claims/cash flow if there are any problems. In a recovery, spreads will narrow and you have a capital appreciation. (He also owns the equities.)

2009-03-25

BUY

6.290

(Market Call Minute.) At these levels, it is a Buy. (See Top Picks.)

2009-03-25

BUY

6.050

Ken McCord

This is the better operator in a relatively weak sector right now. Likes the media space. Yield of about 19%.

2009-03-19

SELL

5.730

John Zechner

(Market Call Minute.) Still too expensive. Will ultimately be losing market share to economics.

2009-03-16

HOLD

5.140

Brendan Caldwell

(Market Call Minute.) Have done better than some of their counterparts in other countries that there seems to be a lack of recognition.

2009-03-05

DON'T BUY

5.490

Laura Wallace

Concerned that people are not using Yellow Pages except for Canada 411, which is not as profitable. Distribution is really high, which suggests it is vulnerable to a cut.if the distribution is safe, putting it into a Tax-Free Savings account would be very advantageous.

2009-03-04

BUY

5.750

Kevin Hall BComm, CFA

Thinks 20% yield is safe for the next 12 months. Very good value at under $6. Negative sentiment because of slowing economy. Advertising spending will be coming under pressure. Much better shape than its peers but have been impacted with them.

2009-02-27

Comment

5.600

Continues to evolve their web-based strategy. It's upwards of 20%-25% of revenues at this point. Down because investors are cool to income trusts.

2009-02-24

PAST TOP PICK

5.200

Bruce Campbell

(A Top Pick Feb 28/08. Down 46.9%.) They have met all expectations and still pays a dividend. Announced they do not intend to cut the yield. Now paying a 22% yield. Online business grew 42% last quarter.

2009-02-23

HOLD

5.810

Has been hit pretty hard. Peers have been plagued by debt but their business is quite different and more insulated because of their market position in Canada. Expects some weakness in advertising revenues but they are offsetting somewhat by online advertising and this looks quite good. Have some debt maturities coming up in June but will be able to rule that over without any problem. Distribution is very safe.

2009-02-03

HOLD

5.810

Derek Webb, CFA

Has never liked the Yellow Pages business because the Internet is beating it. Longer-term it's a dying, dead business. Yield of about 18% and hopefully it is stable.

2009-02-03

SELL

6.500

(Market Call Minute.) Has a lot of economic sensitivity as well as being a bad business model.

2009-01-27

Comment

6.210

Best in class amongst the various Yellow Pages type businesses. Balance sheet is acceptable but not pristine. Will be able to absorb a certain amount of tax friction going into 2011. Management has advised distributions will be safe as a dividend. Internet is about 20% of their business and will grow over the years.

2009-01-22

BUY

6.490

Management says they will stay a trust until 2011. Payout ratio about 82%. Expects advertising will slow down. These levels are reflecting a lot of bad news. Print business is declining but they are making it up through the Internet. Yield of about 18%.

2009-01-16

HOLD

6.460

Robert Floyd

Involved in mature businesses that have generated decent cash flows. Will have to change to a corporation in 2011. Questions how much growth there is and what they will look like as a corporation. Would hold on for the next 12 months or so.

2009-01-15

BUY

6.200

Gavin Graham

Some sensitivity to the economy but actually Yellow Pages ads are one of the last things people give up. Migrating their business to the Internet. No competition. Affected by poor showing of the US yellow page companies. 16.5% yield.

2009-01-14

BUY

6.950

Andrew Guy, CFA

Have regularly beat numbers. Probably one of the best management teams in Canada. Challenge is that they are in the midst of a transition from print to an online model.

2009-01-06

DON'T BUY

6.460

Duncan Stewart

(Market Call Minute.) Good yield, but long-term he doesn't think yellow pages business is a good one.

2008-12-30

HOLD

5.510

Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA

Statistically cheap. People are worried that in a recession advertising is cut back. Think the stock price is more than reflecting any cutback in advertising. There are no near-term financing issues.

2008-12-22

DON'T BUY

5.230

Despite Yellow Pages trying to diversify the Internet is basically eating them.

2008-12-19

SELL

5.990

Has never been a fan of this company. Has never understood the business model. Consider taking a tax loss. (Deadline Dec 23rd. Not valid for registered accounts.)

2008-12-15

PAST TOP PICK

6.530