Nutrien Ltd. (NTR.TO)

It's had a poor start after the merger, disappointing investors. They've achieved some cost savings and efficiencies, true. You're buying this for the long term, and he forsees a 10% gain over 12 months.

The merger has created a giant in North American fertilizer. The stock has moved up because oil and corn have; corn is ethanol which competes with gasoline, and potash (Nutrien) fertilizes corn. NTR pays a decent dividend, but doesn't offer much revenue growth and he doesn't see demand around the world rising--corn prices are down. Farming
isn't as profitable as it used to. Hold if you own it, but don't run out and buy this. There's an oversupply of potash.

(A Top Pick September 29/17 - Down 4%.) The merge of Potash and Agrium. A commodity play as they were bullish in commodities coming into this year. Fourth quarter tends to be the quarter when farmers tend to put their orders for fertilizers.

Difficult name to analyze as two big conglomerates come together. It takes a while for synergies to play out. Lots of tailwinds. Dividend is strong.

This is a managed market. The biggest challenge otherwise is big, new supply. He thinks it will get interesting. But now is not the time to place big bets on these stocks. Once it gets reset it will get interesting. He would tend to stay away right now. Wait for weaker equity markets.

He owns this long-term. It's a dominant, global player and offers a solid yield with an underlying stable, retail business. Trade has been choppy, but below $60 is a good time to buy. Earnings report this evening.

Their two great quarters are this one and the one after that. He has not been able to chin the bar and buy it. There are other situations that have a better combination of yield and growth. He is not concerned about it, however.

If you are looking out a couple of years, you should continue to hold. The amalgamation of Agrium and Potash Corp is going to take work to make things sync, but there should be good cost savings. Not a strong buy, but the stock is reasonably valued.

The merger of AGU-T and POT-T. It is on his radar He thinks the valuation is pretty good. The outlook for the company is pretty good. He would not be surprised if he bought it at some point.

It does not have enough track record to show what it can do as a combined entity. It is okay on price momentum and valuation. He does not mind taking a pass on it.

It's on his "bench." It's a difficult, volatile market to be in (fertilizer). The name doesn't have enough pull for him to buy, though he's watching it. Population growth should be a tailwind, but the stock price is too high.

He owns and likes this name. This is now the world’s largest crop nutrient player after the merger of Agrium and Potash Corp. Domestically it is the largest materials company in Canada. It is a must own name for domestic portfolio managers. He believes the nutrient market is at its cyclical lows. There are $500 million in annual cost savings with the merger.

Massive agricultural supplier. He is looking at it to buy. The issue is that the commodities they sell are under price pressure. Potash, that is the biggest part of the business, is interesting because goes through these periods that are great but now they have to fight for market share. There might be some stabilization now. One great business to keep an eye on.

He does not know much of this one as it does not rank highly in their database. The challenge is earnings are down 53% on a combined basis. Their upcoming earnings in April are expected to be down another 39% from last year and with a P/E above 21 times it looks expected. Free cash flow is marginal at 1%. He sees better opportunity elsewhere.

Some Canadian agriculture stocks have been challenged by oversupply. Likes Nurtrien for its merger between Agrium and Potash. They make fertilizer. They'll probably sell off $4-5 billion of assets. Likes this stock and will hold it for at least five years.