The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition ValueAct Capital Management LLC, the activist hedge fund that owns 5.7 per cent of Agrium, sees the Canadian company's retail business as the "stable jewel" of its operations. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post quotes ValueAct chief executive officer Jeffrey Ubben as saying, it is "your jewel business that protects your downside" amid volatile commodity prices. Mr. Ubben's approach is in marked contrast to the bluster of Jana Partners LLC, which took a run at Agrium last year. "While activist investors can typically engage in public grandstanding and confrontational relationships, ValueAct has staked its reputation and success on working quietly with the management of their target companies," said John Chu at AltaCorp Capital in a Oct. 27 note. Agrium is cheaper than commodity peers CF Industries Holdings, Mosaic Co. and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, despite having a strong retail business the others lack, Mr. Ubben said. The fund sees Agrium, a fertilizer and seeds producer, delivering "significant" growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization over the next two years. It also expects the company to pay a dividend of between $5 and $6.
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