Based on the aggregated intelligence of 110,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, agricultural chemicals producer Agrium (NYSE: AGU) has earned a coveted five-star ranking. Our data has shown that five-star stocks outperform the market by a significant margin; conversely, one-star stocks have woefully lagged the market average.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Agrium's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Agrium facts
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Headquarters (Founded)
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Calgary, Canada (1931)
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Market Cap
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$15.65 billion
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Industry
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Agricultural Chemicals
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TTM Revenue
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$5.56 billion
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Management
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CEO Michael Wilson (since 2003);
CFO Bruce Waterman (since 2000)
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Return on Equity (avg. last three years)
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16%
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CAPS members bullish on AGU also bullish on
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Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT),
Mosaic (NYSE: MOS),
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)
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CAPS members bearish on AGU also bearish on
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Monsanto (NYSE: MON),
First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR),
CF Industries (NYSE: CF)
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Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.
Over on CAPS, fully 513 of 528 of the All-Star members who have rated Agrium -- some 97% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These All-Star bulls include agridealer and TheGarcipian, both of whom are ranked in the top 2% of our community.
In January, agridealer said that Agrium is, "the first company in the fertilizer sector that is fully integrated from the mine to the farm. ... Believe me, the ag industry is scooting along, and any company poised to capture incremental revenue at every step will do well."
A more recent (and much longer) analysis by TheGarcipian in June followed that bullish line of thinking. Here are a few excerpts:
We are currently seeing the beginnings of a large macro-economic and demographic shift in that the peoples of China and India are moving up into the middle class in droves, a shift that could last a decade or more. ...
Enter Agrium (and Potash, Monsanto, Terra Industries and others). Its forte is the production of agricultural nutrients (sulphur, nitrogen, nitrates, phosphates, potash) and specialty products (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides) to improve crop output and fight pests. Fertilizers are the quickest, most efficient method for improving a farm’s yield, and farmers the world over know this (or they should). They will gladly pay up for products and services provided by the likes of Agrium first, rather than layout even more capital, equipment, time & labor in securing additional lands to farm. It only makes sense to do so, in this order.
So, AGU is definitely in the right business to prosper from a global trend.
What do you think about Agrium, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 110,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.
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