New Purchase Alimentation Couche-Tard

Hi guys I made another purchase and wanted to share it with you. On July 7th I purchased shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard. Who is Alimentation Couche-Tard? well let me tell you.

Alimentation Couche-Tard was started in 1980 by founder Alain Bouchard with one store by 1986 the network had increased to 34 stores. Fast forward to 2017 and Couche-Tard has become the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. In the United States, it is the largest independent convenience store operator in terms of the number of company-operated stores. In Europe, Couche-Tard is a leader in convenience store and road transportation fuel in the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and in Ireland, with an important presence in Poland.

As of June 30th, 2017 Couche-Tard has a total of 9,424 stores in North America and another 2,754 in Europe in the countries stated above.

Store Count

Above I created a chart showing the total store count with North America and Europe combined. Please note that the number of stores that sell fuel is the North American number I could not find a number for Europe. The vast majority I am led to believe sell fuel in Europe.

Also Couche-Tard has licensing agreements that cover close to 1,700 stores in 13 other countries (China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam) that operate under the Circle K banner.

Couche-Tard In Canada

In Canada Couche-Tard is all over the country. There are currently three banners in use Mac’s, Couche-Tard and Circle K. Beginning in May of this year Canada will start to lose the Mac’s banner and they will be replaced with Circle K. These changes will take place throughout Canada except in Quebec where the Couche-Tard logo will remain.

Couche-Tard in The United States

In the United States Couche-Tard operates under a few banners as you can see CST, Kangaroo Express, Circle K and CAP). Soon the Kangaroo Express, CST and CAP banners will be disappearing and will be replaced with the Circle K banner.

European Operations

As you can see Couche-Tard has a big presence in Europe and operates with three banners (Topaz, Circle K and Ingo) as with the United States soon Circle K will be the only banner.

Net Earnings

Couche-Tard has a strong management team that continues to delivery impressive earnings. They have the ability to go and scout out potential acquisition targets usually large chains, when they complete the purchase they quickly absorb the new stores into the network with little trouble.

Key Acquisitions Over The Last Six Years

1.  2012: Statoil 2,300 stores Couche-Tard’s first acquisition in Europe
2.  2015: The Pantry operator in the southeastern United States with 1,500 stores
3.  Feb 1st, 2016: Topaz Energy in Ireland 444 service stations are acquired
4.  Sept 7th, 2016: 278 Imperial Oil locations located near Toronto and in Quebec
5.  June 28th, 2017: CST Brands officially acquired 1,300 locations added to the network.

Why Did I Purchase More Shares

• Helps diversify my portfolio. Increases my consumer staples allocation
• Couche-Tard continues to display impressive and growing earnings
• Good Management team with a successful track record
• Future looks bright

Dividend

Couche-Tard doesn’t pay a big dividend but they have grown it year after year. The stock currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.09. This company is in growth mode now and is focused on looking for more stores to buy. The yield on the stock is 0.58 as of Saturday.

Transaction Details

So before this new purchase I owned 9 shares with an average cost of $63.85.

On July 7th I spent all the money I had available in my RRSP account and purchased an additional 33 shares at $59.57 at a cost of $1,965.81 + $9.99 (trading cost) total cost of the trade was $1,975.80.

I now currently own 42 shares with an average cost of $60.72 I am happy I was able to lower my costs.

The additional 33 shares will boost my annual income by $11.88

The source of some of the pictures and information used in this post was from annual reports and the company’s website.

So what do you think of my new purchase? Do you own the stock? Please let me know I enjoy reading your comments.

Thanks for reading I appreciate the support.

Matthew