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Canadian Pacific RailCP.TOCOMMENTAug 15, 2014Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 22, 2026. Market Open.
The rails trade in tandem. With CP buying Kansas City, CP now competes head-to-head with CNR which used to have more of a north-south network. He isn't jumping into these stocks, because of a possible recession later this year. If you're a long, long-term holder, holding rails isn't bad, but he wouldn't but them now.
Canadian railroads have 15% compound returns going back 30 years. CP has done way better than CNR. Wishes he owned CP, and you probably should own both. Will see buybacks, dividend increases, growth at GDP+. Always cutting costs. Will see double-digit returns for a very long time. Nothing can displace railroads. Drones just can't move the heavy stuff.
Bullish because we'll see more onshoring. Hard to tell if we're going into recession or accelerating. Should see restocking of inventory.
It's in the public interest to get this pipeline going, as it will be great for Canadian energy producers as a whole. Won't have a negative impact on the rails. Rail is not the most efficient for shipping oil, it's the overflow option.
He's positive on CNR and CP, more so on CP with its unique footprint integrating Canada-US-Mexico. Between onshoring and its management team, going to do quite well. Trades at a premium because of this.
Rails depend on overall economic activity. Rates will probably produce at least a temporary slowdown in economic growth. Price has come off. Next cycle could be 3-7 years from now. Starting to look attractive, good time to look at where you might pick it up. He hasn't jumped in yet. Kansas City acquisition makes it more competitive.
Great acquisition of Kansas City by CP was a game changer. CNR is the gold standard in North America. US is not in a recession yet, but if it does happen, all the rails will get cheaper. Don't settle for just a 1% differential from the historical average, when you might be able to get it 20% cheaper.
Thinks the multiple is around 35X PE. Likes the rails, but this one is really riding on a wave of enthusiasm, relating to an improvement on its various ratios. Should it ever miss a step along the way, the stock will take a good 10%-15% hit. He has basically moved any money he had in this, over to Canadian National (CNR-T), which trades at about 18X and isn’t under quite the same spotlight to meet objectives. Both companies are in good growth areas and both are benefiting from the transportation of oil. They have more business than they can almost really handle at this time. A good place to be in this kind of a growth economy.