| Agrium (AGU) Poised for Growth Despite Pricing Headwinds | |
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On Aug 13, we issued an updated research report on fertilizer maker Agrium Inc. AGU. Agrium's profits rose in the second quarter of 2015, reported on Aug 5, on higher volumes in its Wholesale unit. However, adjusted earnings fell shy of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues fell year over year on declines across the board, and missed expectations.
Notwithstanding a few challenges, Agrium stands to gain from overall healthy trends for the agriculture and crop input markets in the long haul. Demand for key crops is expected to rise in sync with increasing global population, thereby supporting crop input applications by growers. The company is expected to see strong demand for potash in China and India in second-half 2015.
Agrium also follows a strategy to grow along the value chain through a combination of acquisitions and organic development. The acquisition of Viterra's agri-products assets is an excellent fit to Agrium's portfolio, allowing it to offer highly competitive products, services and technologies. Moreover, the buyout of a controlling stake in agriculture biotechnology company Agricen reinforces the company's offerings of advanced plant health technologies.
Agrium should also gain from its capacity expansion projects. The company continues to ramp up expansion at the Vanscoy potash facility and has reaffirmed its production volume target for the site at 2.1 million tons for 2015.
However, the crop pricing environment is expected to remain soft in the near term which may unfavorably impact the crop input market. Moreover, urea prices are expected to be under pressure in the second half of 2015, partly due to the anticipated rise in Chinese export supplies.
Agrium has reduced its earnings per share guidance for 2015 factoring in an expected decline in phosphate and potash prices in the second half. The company is also faced with issues such as logistical constraints and plant outages.
Agrium is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Other Stocks to Consider Other companies in the basic materials space worth considering include CVR Partners, LP UAN, Rentech Nitrogen Partners, L.P. RNF and Innospec Inc. IOSP, with all holding a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AGRIUM INC (AGU): Free Stock Analysis Report RENTECH NITROGN (RNF): Free Stock Analysis Report CVR PARTNERS LP (UAN): Free Stock Analysis Report INNOSPEC INC (IOSP): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research
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Agrium Inc.
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CODE : AGU.TO |
ISIN : CA0089161081 |
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ProfilIndicateurs de MarchéVALEUR : Projets & res.Communiqués de PresseRapport annuelRISQUE : Profile actifsContactez la cie |
Agrium Inc. est une société de production minière basée au Canada. Agrium Inc. est cotée au Canada et aux Etats-Unis D'Amerique. Sa capitalisation boursière aujourd'hui est 20,0 milliards CA$ (15,9 milliards US$, 13,3 milliards €). La valeur de son action a atteint son plus bas niveau récent le 29 décembre 2000 à 10,00 CA$, et son plus haut niveau récent le 29 décembre 2017 à 144,58 CA$. Agrium Inc. possède 138 175 400 actions en circulation. |