Stock price when the opinion was issued
(A Top Pick Jan 22/13. Down 0.48%.) Got into some difficulty with their Montréal acquisition, took some substantial write-offs and he sold his holdings. That is now behind them and looking forward he sees earnings of about $1.65-$1.70 and going well into the $2. A little pricey at this point. He would like to see it come back down to $26.
One of the major water companies in the US. They do a lot of government work. Have transitioned from all government work 3-4 years ago, into the private sector. That was going fairly well, but about 2 years ago they made a fatal mistake and decided to get into the Canadian mining business just about at the top. This caused all sorts of problems. Also, one of their acquisitions was involved in the construction scandal in Montréal. One of his 2 favourites in the energy field, but he wants to see evidence that they have come to grips in dealing with corporations.
Sold his holdings. Loves the company and expects that sometime he will be back in it. Doing wonderful things with making sure water is used efficiently in the fracing area. About a year or 2 ago they bought a company in Montréal when the mining business was a lot better. However, the headman in Montréal was sequestered by the police to talk about the bribery scandals. Company decided to take a massive right off of about $50 million and restructure the business to write down goodwill. There’s a bit more to come.