George Weston Ltd. (WN.TO)

(A Top Pick Aug 22/18, Up 10%) They also have the bakery side of the business where they have invested a lot into the business. A lot of it depends on L-T plus exposure to CHP.UN-T. He would highly recommend it at $100. They are the dominant player in the Canadian grocery business.

They just bought Choice Properties reit from Loblaw in a complicated deal. This creates a lot of cash flow that will likely go towards M&A. He suspects WN will invest in healthcare to synergize with the supermarkets. The bakeries, though, make up only 6% of the business and he's not thrilled by them.

This is basically owned by the Weston family, who has a long time horizon. In the longer term the stock will do okay. It is a well operated company, but does not have the growth profile they look for to invest in.

He usually invests in small-to-midcap companies, but he likes this one and owns a small position. The price has been dropping and he sees this as a good entry point. They have a lot of excess capital, which he expects them to deploy in the back half of the year. His guess is they will expand financial services -- PC Financial -- rather than retail. They have been growing PC Financial and he expects an acquisition in that space.

It pulled back with changes in the bakery business in the U.S. by optimizing production. Ownership of Loblaw is creeping past 50%, so shareholders can participate in Loblaw through WN. (1.9% yield, $121.13)

(A Top Pick Mar 17/17, Down 8%) There has been some problem within the bakery side in the frozen food segment. A lot of food retailers are in focus with increased home delivery competition, but Loblaw's should be able to compete with this. It is a good place to be.

This is a proxy for Loblaw. It owns 48%, along with food processing and bakeries. It is in a good position compared to other grocers in Canada. In general, he favors owning Loblaw over Weston and on further weakness, he would add to his position in Loblaw. Sometimes, the prices of Loblaw and Weston get out of synch and Weston trades cheaply compared to Loblaw. At those times, Weston is a good buy. (Analysts’ price target is 121.50$)

(A Top Pick March 17/17. Down 1%.) The bulk of their fortunes are still tied to Loblaws (L-T), the dominant food retailer in Canada. The company has been known to pay special dividends when their cash builds up. He wouldn't be surprised to see that happen again in the next few years.