Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Aecon Group Inc. (ARE-T) announced it has been awarded three contracts valued at a total of $690-million. Aecon's share of the three projects is valued at $420-million. The projects include the "Trans Mountain Expansion Project, Spread 1" from Trans Mountain Corp., the "Highway 91/17 Upgrade Project" in Delta, B.C. and the "NOVA Chemicals Area 100/200 Mechanical and Piping Installation Project."
Industrial Alliance Securities analyst Neil Linsdell said in a note that the new contracts “highlight the strength of Aecon’s backlog, diversified by sector (pipeline, highway, and structural steel/piping) and geography (Alberta, BC, and Ontario), and further improves longer-term visibility.”
Mr. Lindsdell, who has a"buy" and $26 target on the stock, also said Aecon has an “already sizeable backlog” and believes Aecon “is being more selective on new projects, allowing it to maintain strong margins.”
He expects to see continued profitability improvements at the company into 2020 “as many projects work through higher revenue-recognition phases.”
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Stelco Holdings Inc. (STLC-T) announced that its chief financial officer Don Newman will resign effective January 5, 2020 “for personal family reasons.” Roy Collins, vice-president, internal audit, will become interim CFO until a replacement is found, the company stated.
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NFI Group Inc. (NFI-T) announced that the City of Edmonton's Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) has awarded the company a contract for 35 of its 60-foot Xcelsior clean-diesel heavy-duty transit buses.
“The order replaces end-of-life buses while also allowing ETS to expand passenger capacity on select routes,” the company stated.
New Flyer says it has delivered 1,130 buses to ETS since 1992.
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Pro Real Estate Investment Trust (PRV-UN-T) said it closed the acquisition of a 100-per-cent interest in a light industrial property in the Burnside Industrial Park in Halifax for $8.45-million before closing costs, representing a going-in capitalization rate of 6.5 per cent.
"As we continue to strategically diversify our portfolio, this acquisition provides PROREIT with a stronger presence in the strengthening Halifax industrial market that has received increased interest from institutional investors recently," said CEO Jim Beckerleg.
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Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (EGLX-X) announced that it has received conditional approval to graduate from the TSX Venture Exchange to the Toronto Stock Exchange. The shares are expected to start trading in January 2020, the company stated.
“The up-listing will be a significant milestone for Enthusiast Gaming, and follows a number of important corporate actions since closing the merger between Enthusiast, Aquilini GameCo, and Luminosity Gaming in August 2019,” it said.
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Western Forest Products Inc. (WEF-T) announced that after resuming discussions with the United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 on a new collective agreement, "negotiations have reached an impasse and no future mediation dates have been scheduled at this time." The strike started on July 1.
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TransAlta Corp. (TA-T) announced today that it has increased free cash flow (FCF) guidance to $350-million to $380-million from the prior range of $300-million to $340-million. "This expected increase to FCF is primarily attributable to the continued strong performance of the energy marketing segment into the fourth quarter," the company stated.
TransAlta said previously the gross margin for its energy marketing segment is forecasted to be at the top end of the range of $100-million to $120-million