Michael SmedleyHigh Liner FoodsHLF.TOTOP PICKDec 04, 2012

The company is 120 years old and is the leading brand in North America in frozen value added seafood, number 1 in the Canadian retail segment and number 1 in the U.S. food services segment. Eating fish is considered a healthy alternative to eating meats and although Americans are not big fish eaters, there is good growth potential as attitudes may change. It is paying down debt as well as increasing the dividend by 30% and it recently reported record results. Trades at 7X earnings and insiders own 40%, almost unheard of.

He would not double down on it because we are in tax loss season. There could be some tax loss selling in November/December. It has fairly high debt. It now pays a dividend but did not do so when he owned it. They are a leader in the field and know what they are doing. They could do well in time.

He held it for 10 years and did very well, but then he unloaded it entirely, starting in February. He didn't see a recovery in its last quarter and sold his remaining shares. Highliner made a distrastrous acqusition and suffered a brutal recall.
Doesn't see a recovery anytime soon.

Had a strong uptrend since 2016 and since then a series of lower lows and highs. Not great. It's now at the bottom of a lower trend.

Historically this company has not had a great return on capital. Returns from reinvestments have never really come.

He decided to keep the name because the yield is safe and good. It is a touch business. They are doing value added food processing on many types of fish. Margins have been squeezed. He thinks this might be coming to an end. The shrimp farm in Asia looks like it is fixed. The company has value at some point. It is the kind of name that private equity tends to gravitate to. He thinks it should be trading higher, but it is not a momentum name.