A roundup of some of the North American equities making moves in both directions today
On the rise
Gibson Energy Inc. (GEI-T) rose 2.1 per cent on Tuesday in the wake of announcing the sale of its Canadian Truck Transportation business for $100-million.
The Calgary-based company also announced it has received a BBB Issuer rating from DBRS Limited.
“We are pleased to announce the sale of Canadian Truck Transportation, concluding our non-core disposition process for total proceeds in-line with our initial expectations,” said president and CEO Steve Spaulding. "Through these divestitures, we have focused our business around our core energy infrastructure assets, significantly high-graded our quality of cash flows and have ensured that we are fully-funded for all growth projects currently under construction. Each of these factors, as part of the continued execution of our strategy, has enabled Gibson to reach an important milestone with the Company’s first Investment Grade rating.”
AltaCorp Capital analyst Nate Heywood said: “Overall we view the announcement to be positive as the sale provides Gibson with additional capital resources to fully fund new capital projects.”
Lightspeed POS Inc. (LSPD-T) was up 0.7 per cent after several equity analysts took a bullish view of the stock upon initiating coverage of the stock on Tuesday.
"We believe Lightspeed’s shares should be purchased,” said CIBC’s Todd Coupland,
The success of the Montreal-based firm’s IPO could encourage more companies to go public this year, said the Globe and Mail’s Alexandra Posadzki.
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL-N) jumped 6.1 per cent after its first-quarter profit estimates exceeding Wall Street’s forecast.
Driven by strong business travel demand, the airline said it expects operating revenue for the first-quarter to rise about 7 per cent, compared with the 4 per cent to 6 per cent it forecast earlier.
Rivals United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL-Q), American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL-Q) and Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV-N) rose 2.4 per cent, 2 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively, on the news.
SunOpta Inc. (SOY-T) jumped 10.8 per cent after announcing a definitive agreement to acquire Sanmark B.V., a Dutch-based organic oil producer, in a transaction valued at €3.0-million.
The company said the deal was financed through existing credit facilities.
“The acquisition of Sanmark is expected to further diversify our global oils desk and provide broader access to high-end specialty markets,” said Gerard Versteegh, Senior Vice President, Global Ingredients and President of Tradin Organic Agriculture, a wholly owned subsidiary of SunOpta. “Through this acquisition we are adding seasoned commercial traders to our team who will be able to leverage Tradin’s global reach in organic oils today, while also expanding our ability to source organic raw materials.”
Air Canada (AC-T) rose 0.1 per cent after announcing it has removed Boeing Co.’s (BA-N) 737 MAX planes from flight schedules through July 1, citing uncertainty about when the aircraft would be allowed to return to service.
It also made further adjustments to its schedule through May 31 and now expects to cover 98 per cent of previously planned flying “through a series of mitigation measures, schedule changes and temporary route suspensions.”
On the decline
Shopify Inc. (SHOP-T) fell 2 per cent following a report on The Information, a tech-focused news website, that Microsoft Inc. (MSFT-Q) is considering offering software tools that allow retailers to manage e-commerce sales.
A quartet of Canadian REITS fell after receiving downgrades from an equity analyst at Canaccord Genuity following a “significant run-up” in unit prices in 2019.
Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CHP-UN-T) was down 0.7 per cent, while Summit Industrial Income Real Estate Investment Trust (SMU.UN-T) lost 1.3 per cent. Artis Real Estate Investment Trust (AX.UN-T) and InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust (IIP.UN-T) declined 1.6 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.
Callidus Capital Corp. (CBL-T) was down 21 per cent a day after reporting another deep quarterly loss on Monday and saying its net worth had fallen below zero, due partly to the weak financial performance of a number of companies it has acquired.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA-Q) dropped 12.8 per cent after cutting its 2019 profit growth forecast and reporting a quarterly profit that missed Wall Street estimates.
Excluding items, the drugstore operator earned US$1.64 per share in the second quarter, missing analysts’ expectations of US$1.72.
“This was truly a terrible print, as most metrics missed materially,” Evercore ISI analyst Ross Muken said in a research note.
The company reduced its adjusted earnings growth forecast for fiscal 2019 from a range of 7 per cent to 12-per-cent growth to roughly flat, at constant currency rates.
Savaria Corp. (SIS-T) dropped 8.8 per cent after it announced a $70.75-million bought-deal placement of common shares.
“This financing offers Savaria new opportunities to grow and take advantage of strategic acquisitions as well as investments in the current business to maximize sales. I thank our investors for their support and participation in shaping our future growth,” said CEO Marcel Bourassa in a release.
Park Lawn Corp. (PLC-T) sat 5.9 per cent lower after it announced a $25-million bought-deal offering. The company said it has an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters to issue 4,874,000 common shares at a price of $25.65 each.
The company plans to use proceeds for growth initiatives and general corporate purposes.
With files from staff and wires
David Leeder