TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (16,697.97, up 52.98 points.)
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Down 37 cents, or 1.75 per cent, to $20.77 on 17.1 million shares.
Whitecap Resources Inc. (TSX:WCP). Materials. Down 12 cents, or 4.38 per cent, to $2.62 on 5.9 million shares.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (TSX:CNQ). Energy. Down 18 cents, or 0.69 per cent, to $25.92 on 5.7 million shares.
Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX). Materials. Up 30 cents, or 0.78 per cent, to $38.64 on 5 million shares.
Eastmain Resources Inc. (TSX:ER). Materials. Up half a cent, or 2.22 per cent, to 23 cents on 4.7 million shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 18 cents, or 0.93 per cent, to $19.63 on 4.3 million shares.
Companies in the news:
Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSX:CCA). Up $14.92 or 15 per cent to $114.27. The family that controls Cogeco and Cogeco Communications says it won't support a hostile bid from a New York firm. Altice USA has offered $10.3-billion to buy the telecommunications companies. Gestion Audem Inc., a company controlled by the members of the Audet family, says it does not intend to sell its shares and will not support the unsolicited proposal from Altice. The U.S. cable company made the offer as part of a deal that included a side arrangement that would see Rogers Communications Inc. buy Cogeco's Canadian assets for 4.9-billion dollars. Gestion Audem holds 69 per cent of Cogeco's voting rights and 82.9 per cent of voting rights at Cogeco Communications.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSX:ATD.B). Up $3.20 or 7.5 per cent to $46. Alimentation Couche-Tard continues to be on the hunt for acquisitions even as it claims convenience store rival 7-Eleven's blockbuster US$21-billion acquisition of the Speedway network in the U.S. doesn't make sense. Chief executive Brian Hannasch told investors Wednesday that the deal announced last month for the 3,900-store network owned by Marathon Petroleum "traded at value, quite honestly, I can't understand." He said potential acquisition deals have been relatively quiet in the quarter but that activity should pick up as the focus on the COVID-19 pandemic lessens. The fragmented U.S. market remains a prime target as are significant opportunities in western Canada. Asia-Pacific, including Australia, remains "a strong area of focus due to long-term growth potential." Acquisitions are part of Couche-Tard's strategy to double its size within five years.
Imperial Oil. Down 73 cents or 3.4 per cent to $20.87. The partial shutdown of a diluent supply pipeline following a spill near Fort McMurray has halted production at the Kearl oilsands mining operation in northern Alberta, operator Imperial Oil Ltd. said Wednesday. Analysts say the anticipated withdrawal of thousands of barrels of bitumen per day from the market is already affecting crude prices. The facilities are to be kept ready to be restarted as soon as the pipeline is back in service and diluent supply is restored, Calgary-based Imperial said in a news release, adding it is looking at other unspecified options. An Imperial spokesman declined to say how much production is being sidelined or offer other detail. Kearl is 29 per cent owned by Imperial's American parent, Exxon Mobil Corp., and has the capacity to produce about 240,000 barrels per day of bitumen, about 170,000 bpd net to Imperial.
Dollarama Inc. Down 25 cent to $51.44. Dollarama Inc. enjoyed a seven per cent sales boost and flat profits in its second quarter as Canadians loaded up on seasonal items for home and patio during the pandemic’s summer months — but a potential shift in Halloween buying habits has executives spooked. While purchases of impulse items such as candy and chewing gum dropped off, the spike in summer products like pool toys meant higher margins, said CEO Neil Rossy. Limited vacation options due to ongoing travel restrictions in the height of summer meant Canadians turned inward, and even indoors, to fill their days. "Cleaning up the backyard and redoing the living room have all been impactful for Dollarama," Rossy said, noting a run on cleaning products that has left it sold out of Lysol wipes. How consumers will handle Halloween and Christmas remains a major X-factor for the second half of the year, however.
Calfrac Well Services Ltd. Up one cent or 6.7 per cent to 16 cents. Shares in debt-laden Calfrac Well Services Ltd. jumped after a Texas rival committed to a takeover offer if shareholders reject a management-backed restructuring plan. Wilks Brothers LLC has been forcefully urging Calfrac for more than a month to abandon its proposed reorganization plan made through a court-supervised Canada Business Corporations Act process in favour of a "superior" one advanced by Wilks. But in a news release late Tuesday, Wilks vowed to make an 18-cents-per-share cash takeover offer for Calfrac if shareholders reject management's plan in a vote to be held on Sept. 17. The Wilks offer would value Calfrac at a total of about $26.1 million, although the U.S. company already owns just under 20 per cent of the shares.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2020.
The Canadian Press
