The big Quebec winner for the month of March on the Toronto Stock Exchange is Nuvei.
The title of the Montreal provider of electronic payment solutions appreciated by 41% during the month. Aya (36%), 5N Plus (30%), TVA (27%) and SNC-Lavalin (18%) also did well in March.
Among the losers, Taiga (-39%), Hexo (-23%), Guru (-21%) and Lion (-18%) recorded the biggest declines of the month in Toronto à Québec inc.
The participation of the largest institutional shareholder of Therapeutics Knight has just passed over the 10% mark. George Armoyan’s March 23 purchase of $630,000 in shares of the Montreal pharmaceutical compelled a declaration to the authorities.
Since the takeover of Shaw by Rogers will soon lead to the withdrawal of Shaw’s stock from the Stock Exchange and the TSX 60, a Quebec company is positioned to be added to the index of the 60 biggest names on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Shaw’s “replacement” should logically be the largest stock in the TSX 60’s most underweight sector, according to Scotia analyst Jean-Michel Gauthier. The logical choice is therefore WSP. And if so, expect significant demand for shares in the Montreal engineering firm, since the decision would notably lead exchange-traded funds to rebalance positions.
The 30% refundable tax credit announced Tuesday in the federal budget in connection with investments in clean technologies is favorable to several companies. But analyst Rupert Merer of National Bank Financial believes Montreal-based graphene producer NanoXplore is likely the biggest winner from this announcement within the group of companies forming its coverage universe. The tax credit could in particular support investment projects in the possible battery factory of the subsidiary VoltaXplore.
Lion and 5N Plus are two other Quebec companies followed by Rupert Merer which could also benefit from the tax credit for future investments aimed, for example, at improving production.
Coveo has a new admirer on Bay Street. Analyst Suthan Sukumar, from the firm Stifel / GMP, launched this week an official follow-up of the activities of the Quebec company specializing in artificial intelligence applied to e-commerce by recommending the title.
Although macroeconomic winds are weighing on near-term growth, he believes a large, underpenetrated market combined with growing awareness and interest in artificial intelligence will fuel strong demand. They are now 7 out of 9 analysts suggesting the purchase of Coveo stock.
One of the founders of Couche-Tard, Jacques D’Amours, sold $600,000 of shares in the Laval convenience store chain on March 23. This transaction was carried out for the benefit of his foundation.
Nine of the 12 analysts who officially follow Quebecor’s activities recommend the action of the company headed by Pierre Karl Péladeau, while Videotron is now authorized by Ottawa to acquire Shaw’s wireless subsidiary to expand its activities outside the Quebec.
A Dorel senior executive just bought nearly $80,000 in shares of the Montreal-based furniture and child car seat maker. Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Jeffrey Segel purchased a total of 20,500 shares during the March 22 and March 24 sessions.
Quebec securities of Quebecor, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Bombardier, SNC-Lavalin, CGI and Aya reached a new high of the last 52 on the Toronto Stock Exchange this week. In contrast, stocks of Lion, OpSens, Fiera Capital, Knight Therapeutics and Taiga hit 52-week lows this week.
The Toronto Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ will be closed on Friday as the Easter holiday begins.
