STOCKCHASE

Farm machinery such as grain dryers, corn bins and movable conveyor belts. There are not many agricultural plays apart from the obvious ones. Earning good returns. 6.6% yield. They continue to buy tuck-in acquisitions, which will give them growth over time.

2012-01-13

BUY

30.750

Andy Nasr

Grain handling equipment. Feels 7.8% dividend is sustainable. Payout ratio of about 55%. Biggest concern is their international business, which is about 15% of revenue with an objective to get to 40%. Expect this will be put on hold for the next 12-18 months.

2011-11-11

WEAK BUY

31.940

Sold at higher prices, having done well. Top end of the farm equipment business includes Deer. Can be up to $550,000 with Deer. AFN produces equipment ($10k) that gathers wheat up from feels and puts into silos. Steel prices rising hurt the bottom line a bit. If you a have long time horizon you can own the stock, has a descent yield.

2011-11-08

SELL

33.700

Christine Poole

Owned in the past. Small grain handling equipment. Benefit from increased harvesting. Good export business. Felt their clients had made a lot of money with this. Would buy close to $30

2011-10-12

BUY

32.060

Andrew Hamlin

Great company. Best known as a manufacturer of grain augurs. Has come under pressure recently. USDA recently revised their corn estimates downwards along with the estimated yields. Fantastic management that is focused on growth. Looks well covered with a low payout ratio. Expects a couple quarters of choppiness.

2011-10-07

PAST TOP PICK

38.270

(A Top Pick Sept 16/10. Up 3.72%.) An agriculture play with grain bins, dryers and portable conveyor belts. Expanding globally. Still likes it.

2011-09-29

PAST TOP PICK

39.040

(A Top Pick Sept 16/10. Up 4.64%.) Manufactures storage bins, grain dryers and mobile conveyer belts. Fell because of the wet spring in the prairies. Expanding in to Europe. Great longer term story.

2011-09-09

Comment

41.000

Mohsin Bashir

Manufacture farm equipment. Q2 results beat expectations. A lot of this was a result of sequential improvements in margins. Also have some new exposure to emerging markets. Trades at a discount to its peers.

2011-08-12

PAST TOP PICK

38.760

(A Top Pick Sept 16/10. Up 3.23%.) Still likes.

2011-08-05

PAST TOP PICK

46.670

Barry Schwartz

(A Top Pick June 14/10. Up 16%.) 7% convertible bonds.

2011-07-06

WAIT

47.680

He is looking at taking profits. [caller asked about buying more].

2011-03-14

TOP PICK

39.050

If you believe in the whole food story, this is one of the companies that makes the augurs and grain bins. Business is up 16% over the last year. Only 25% of grain is professionally stored globally so the market for this is enormous.

2010-09-16

TOP PICK

34.330

Barry Schwartz

7% convertible bonds. Small company but excellent balance sheet.

2010-06-14

WAIT

36.710

Was his top pick middle of last year, but it had a great run since then. Likes the business. Had operating issues about a year back but they have turned the former and are operating at capacity. Dividend is safe and payout ratios are fine. Wait for an acquisition in order to buy.

2010-03-01

BUY on WEAKNESS

36.800

His ideal entry point would be about $30 but never seems to get cheaper. Long-term, it's a great story to own. Going global. Terrific story but too expensive. 5.5% yield.

2010-01-18

PAST TOP PICK

32.710

(Top Pick May 25/09, Up 17.6%) As an income trust they never cut distributions. They had problems in the operating lines that they fixed. They are a corporation now.

2009-12-01

HOLD

32.530

Christine Poole

(Market Call Minute.) Likes agriculture. 6.2% dividend. Had a good run so wait for a pullback before adding.

2009-11-26

HOLD

33.750

Charles Oliver, HBSc CFA

Great company that is trading at about 10X PE. Earnings have been going up. Believes in the agricultural long-term.

2009-10-16

PAST TOP PICK

33.700

(Top Pick July 3/09, Up 26%) Grain handling equipment. Corn yields were high in the last year.

2009-09-29

BUY

33.480

Manufactures corn augurs, which wear out almost annually.

2009-09-10

BUY

31.790

Ara Nalbandian

Farm machinery manufacturer. Global agricultural markets are an attractive place to be. Has recently been restructured and there are some positive catalysts for them.

2009-08-19

TOP PICK

27.040

Agricultural growth income fund. Manufacturers grain augers. Pay a neat dividend. Have never cut distributions and payout ratios have declined.

2009-07-03

BUY

26.590

Manufactures farm machinery. Has been expanding over the last few years through acquisitions. 7.5% yield.

2009-06-04

TOP PICK

28.700