Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: Can I get your opinion on Ag Growth International? It’s a small cap specializing in manufacturing grain handling equipment.

Article Excerpt

Ag Growth International Inc., $39.40, symbol AFN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 15.5 million; Market cap: $567.5 million; www.aggrowth.com), is a leading maker of portable and stationary grain-handling, storage and conditioning equipment. The company is based in Winnipeg. The company sells its products through dealers and distributors in 48 states and nine provinces, as well as in overseas markets, including Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Ag Growth gets about 63% of its sales from the U.S., followed by Canada (22%) and overseas (15%). The company began as an income trust. It first sold units to the public at $10 each, and began trading on Toronto in May 2004. In June 2009, it converted to a conventional corporation and changed its name from Ag Growth Income Fund to the present form. Ag Growth’s subsidiaries include Batco (which makes crop-belt conveyors), Wheatheart (grain-handling equipment), Westfield Industries (portable grain augers to transfer grain), The Edwards Group (aeration and grain-drying equipment), Twister Pipe (galvanized grain bins) and…