Topic: How To Invest

Thanks for your excellent advice, Pat. What is your opinion of Alliance Grain Traders?

Article Excerpt

Alliance Grain Traders, $12.78, symbol AGT on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 19.7 million; Market cap: $251.8 million; www.alliancegrain.com), sources and processes specialty crops, including lentils, peas, chickpeas and canary seed, mainly for export markets. Alliance has 29 facilities in Canada, Turkey, the U.S. and Australia. Its Turkish subsidiary also produces pasta, rice and bulgur wheat product. Demand for the company’s products has weakened, because its customers are having trouble getting loans due to volatile international credit markets. Political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East is also hurting Alliance’s sales. Alliance’s $203.5-million debt is a high 80.8% of its market cap. That adds risk. However, the company’s long-term outlook is positive. As well, Canada has a good reputation on international markets; that’s a plus for Alliance. The stock is down from $31.57 in March 2011. It now trades at just 6.7 times the $1.91 a share that the company is expected to earn this year. The stock yields 4.7%. Alliance Grain Traders is okay…