For the first time in its history, Montreal retailer Reitmans will not be led by a member of the founding family.
The company announced on Tuesday that Andrea Limbardi will become CEO of Reitmans in September. She will succeed Stephen Reitman, who will become chairman of the board.
The announcement comes as Reitmans will release its year-end financial performance on Wednesday and hold its annual shareholders’ meeting the following day.
Reitmans has been led by a member of the Reitman family since the company was founded 97 years ago.
A first analyst has just launched, on Friday, an official coverage of the activities of Marine Vision. Analyst Craig Irwin, of the firm Roth, recommends buying the stock of the manufacturer of 100% electric boats and electric motors for boats. The analyst anticipates significant growth thanks to new business initiatives launched by management. He also suspects that Vision Marine is talking to several boat manufacturers to supply them with electric motors.
The new chairman of the board of directors National Bank bought this week for half a million dollars of shares in the Montreal financial institution. Robert Paré bought a block of 5150 shares on Tuesday. He paid a unit price of $97.
Couche-Tard could covet the oil company’s network of gas stations Irving. The strategic review conducted by Irving suggests a new ownership structure, a sale, in whole or in part, or a change in the portfolio of its assets and the way it operates them. TD analyst Michael Van Aelst, however, notes an overlap between Couche-Tard and Irving’s network in the east of the country, which would possibly require divestments if Couche-Tard were to acquire some of the assets. He also points out in a note published Friday that Couche-Tard already operates a number of Irving stores under an agreement signed in 2001 and expanded in 2008 covering more than 300 sites.
Fiera Capital started the week with a favorable first recommendation on Bay Street. BMO analyst Étienne Ricard is now the only analyst to suggest buying the action of the Montreal asset manager out of the eight that follow the title. He considers the risk/reward ratio to be attractive and does not fear a reduction in the dividend, unless there is a significant and sustained decline in assets under management, ie of the order of 20% or more.
Richelieu Hardware lost support from CIBC earlier this week. Analyst Hamir Patel on Monday withdrew his buy recommendation on the action of the Montreal hardware supplier. In particular, he expects that demand for renovation products in the country will be less strong in the coming years, since more and more households will see their budgets squeezed by the renewal of mortgages at higher rates. The only other analyst following the stock still offers the buy.
A senior leader of SNC Lavalin has just purchased $125,000 worth of shares in the Montreal engineering firm. One of SNC’s engineering services managers, Philip Hoare, bought a block of 3,894 shares on May 25. He paid a unit price of $32.25.
A cannabis retailer in which Couche-Tard holds a 36% stake announced on Tuesday to appeal to the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act. The stock market slide of the title of Fire & Flower had sharply increased a week earlier, after the announcement of the hiring of an adviser to help the company examine its strategic options, in particular its financing options.
The Quebec titles of BMTC, Stella Jones, Transat And Band ADF all hit a 52-week high on the Toronto Stock Exchange this week. On the other hand, those of Tecsys And Hexo just hit a 52-week low.