The Savvy Investor | August Winners and Losers

Every Sunday, we shine the spotlight on elements of financial and stock market news that may be useful to investors, but which might have slipped under the radar.




The Quebec star of the month of August on the Toronto Stock Exchange is… D-Box.

Shares of the Longueuil company known for its vibrating entertainment seats rose 50% during the month.

The management of D-Box announced in mid-August the renewal of its board of directors ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting scheduled for late September.

Haivision (+33%), 5N Plus (+15%), Lassonde (+15%), iA Financial Group (+11%) and Quebecor (+10%) also recorded good progress in August.

Among the Quebec losers, Vision Navy (-60%) – whose stock is traded on the NASDAQ –, First Health (-60%) – a provider of staffing solutions and outsourced services for the healthcare needs of governments, businesses and individuals – and LeddarTech (-33%), whose shares are also listed on the NASDAQ, all had a very difficult month.

Credit rating agency Moody’s on Friday downgraded its ratings of ECB and its subsidiary Bell CanadaThe level of debt at BCE leads Moody’s to place the rating of the Montreal telecommunications giant Moody’s at the last level above junk bond status.

One analyst made a 180-degree turn on the Bank National this week after the stock had its best session of the year with a 6% jump on Wednesday. Nigel D’Souza of Veritas is withdrawing his buy recommendation and is now recommending dumping the stock. However, he is raising his 12-month target to $118. It was previously $112. After reporting better-than-expected financial performance this week, he believes the stock is fully valued at its current level of $123. However, he believes National Bank should continue to outperform its peers over the long term thanks to its strategy focused on Canadian banking services and its limited exposure to international banking services.

There are now 6 out of 14 analysts who recommend buying the National Bank stock. The average target of the experts over a 12-month horizon is $125.46, which is barely 1% more than the current value of the stock.

In the last two elections in the United States, in 2016 (Trump vs. Clinton) and 2020 (Trump vs. Biden), the result was very close with the Dow Jones rising 8% and 9% respectively in the 25 days following the vote. This observation leads portfolio manager Maxime Dubé, of the Montreal firm Claret, to say that the market is not worried about the identity of the next president. It is more the uncertainty related to not immediately knowing the identity of the next tenant of the White House that would cause anxiety among investors.

A leader at Bomber sold nearly $370,000 worth of shares in the Montreal business jet manufacturer this week. Ève Laurier, vice-president of communications, marketing and public affairs, sold a lot of 4,000 shares on Tuesday at a price of $91.57 each. She still holds 4,740 Bombardier shares.

It is Tuesday that the shareholders of the Canadian Western Bank have an appointment at a special meeting in Edmonton to vote on the purchase offer presented by the Bank NationalIn addition to shareholder support, the transaction must obtain approval from the Competition Bureau, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the federal Department of Finance to proceed.

There are still no buy recommendations among the suggestions of the 11 analysts who officially follow the activities of the Bank Laurentian. Their average 12-month target is $26, which translates into a negative return relative to the current stock price. Laurentian shares lost 4% in the last session of the week after publishing their most recent quarterly financial performance.

The big boss of Power Corporation recently purchased nearly $1 million worth of shares in the Montreal financial conglomerate. Jeffrey Orr bought a lot of 25,000 shares on August 16 at a price of $38.82 each.

Canadian and U.S. stock markets will remain closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

Quebec titles of Transcontinental, Lassonde, Power Corporation, Bank National, 5N Plus, Gildan, Dollarama, iA Group financial And Savaria all hit 52-week highs on the Toronto Stock Exchange this week.

On the other hand, those of MTY And Deckchair fell this week to a 52-week low.


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