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Canadian Pacific RailCP.TOCOMMENTSep 16, 2015Stock 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.
This has been a roller coaster. There was some really strong performance in 2014, and it was getting way ahead of itself. There has been a pullback in the whole transportation sector. This one stumbled in Q2. Didn’t meet expectations. The sector has come back a lot. Fundamentally, the P/E ratio for the last 5 years has been about 19, and is currently trading at about 18.4. Seasonally the transportation sector tends to do well starting in October, so this is a good time to start taking a look at the railways. It may start a little bit late because of the overall drag of what has happened with the whole commodities sector passing through. Starting to look like a good opportunity.