Topic: How To Invest

Could you please provide an analysis and recommendation on Norbord?

Article Excerpt

Norbord, $33.28, symbol NBD on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 52.2 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; www.norbord.com), is one of the world’s largest producers of oriented strand board (OSB). The company can produce more than 5.1 billion square feet of OSB at 13 plants in North America and Europe. Brookfield Asset Management (Toronto symbol BAM) owns 59% of Norbord. OSB is an engineered wood-panel product that’s used as a plywood replacement in home construction and manufacturing. The company also produces particleboard, medium density fibreboard and other engineered wood products. In the three months ended December 31, 2012, Norbord’s revenue rose 44.3%, to $365 million from $253 million a year earlier. (All figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.) Earnings rose to $67 million, or $1.51 a share, from break-even, or nil per share. The company’s total debt of $434 million is a reasonable 24.1% of its market cap. It holds cash of $158 million, or $3.03 a share. Norbord has just announced that…