The wise investor | Fidelity reduces its exposure to Lightspeed

Every Sunday, we shine the spotlight on elements of financial and stock market news that may be useful to investors, but which might have gone under the radar.




A major institutional shareholder in Lightspeed recently reduced its exposure to the Montreal-based provider of technology solutions for merchants.

The sale in mid-December of a block of shares worth a few million dollars pushed Fidelity Investments’ stake below 10% to start the year. Fidelity is therefore no longer required to reveal its transactions in the security unless its participation in Lightspeed rises by 10% or more.

The mutual fund manager revealed to authorities this month that it sold 122,067 shares during the December 15 session.

Fidelity began January with 14.7 million shares of Lightspeed, the equivalent of a 9.6% stake.

Lightspeed could surprise by presenting its results on February 8, believes analyst Richard Tse of National Bank Financial. “Management’s guidance is overly conservative, implying little or no expansion in payments solutions penetration and no or negative quarter-over-quarter growth in gross transaction value, despite strong data on retail sales in the United States during a quarter that is generally stronger at this time of year,” he points out in a note published Thursday.

Concerns raised by the private jet operator VistaJet pushed back the action of Bomber Monday. An article from Wall Street Journal has raised fears that to reduce its debt, VistaJet would be forced to sell a portion of its fleet composed largely of planes built by Bombardier, which would increase the number of used aircraft in circulation. This eventuality could have a negative impact on sales of new Bombardier aircraft. This risk may not be as great as we think, according to Kevin Chiang of CIBC. His colleague Benoit Poirier, at Desjardins, also believes that the concerns are exaggerated.

An analyst did a 180 degree turn on the CN this week after Tuesday’s unveiling of the Montreal rail carrier’s end-of-year performance. Dan Fong at Veritas withdraws his buy recommendation and now suggests sell the stock. “Although CN [soit] a strong company with unique competitive advantages, the stock is valued based on an overly optimistic long-term growth profile and the margin of safety is low given current macroeconomic uncertainty. »

Waterfalls will be added starting Thursday to the S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index, which measures the performance of companies that have followed a policy of stable or increasing dividends every year for at least five years. At the opposite, Transcontinental will be removed from the index following the annual analysis of this index just carried out by the Canadian index services of S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The boss of Dollarama sold more than $82 million worth of shares of the Montreal retailer mid-week. Neil Rossy sold a total of 820,000 shares on Wednesday. A portion of the shares sold were held in the name of the Rossy Foundation.

Scotia withdrew its buy recommendation on the stock of the Montreal provider of airline pilot training solutions at the start of the week CAE and now proposes the purchase of the shares of the Montreal trucking company TFI.

Analyst Konark Gupta believes CAE could reinstate the dividend, but investors are more focused on the defense sector’s ability to turn around margins. As for TFI, he believes the company could unlock more value by spinning off its truckload division, probably this year or next. Other acquisitions could also boost the valuation.

The latest major acquisition of the Montreal grocer Metro dates back to that of Jean Coutu in 2018 ($3 billion). As speculation surrounding a sale of the Rexall pharmacy chain by McKesson intensifies, it remains unclear whether Metro will make other acquisitions in the near term, but a Saint-Bruno asset manager, Cote 100, says notice that rumors are circulating to this effect.

“The addition of health activities with the acquisition of Jean Coutu broadens the field of potential acquisition targets,” notes Cote 100 in a comment made this month for its clients. “A significant acquisition in the grocery sector is always possible, particularly one that would expand Metro’s geographic presence outside of its main markets of Quebec and Ontario. »

Quebec titles of Tecsys, Therapeutic Knight, CGI, Waterfalls, Stingray, Alimentation Couche-Tard And Haivision all hit a 52-week high this week on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

On the other hand, that of Yellow Pages reached a 52-week low this week.


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