This merger is off to a good start

Article Excerpt

NUTRIEN LTD. $62 (Toronto symbol NTR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 634.9 million; Market cap: $39.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nutrien.com) is the new firm formed by the merger of Agrium (old symbol AGU) and rival fertilizer producer Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (old symbol POT). On January 1, 2018, Potash Corp. shareholders received 0.40 shares in Nutrien for each POT share they held; Agrium investors received 2.23 shares for each AGU share. Since the start of 2018, Nutrien has acquired 29 retail outlets for $185 million (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). It now sell seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural products through its more than 1,500 stores across North America, South America and Australia. Those operations supply about 55% of the company’s sales. The remaining 45% comes from the bulk sale of nitrogen fertilizers, potash and phosphate. In the three months ended March 31, 2018, the company’s sales fell 1.1%, to $3.70…