Major Drilling maintains a strong balance sheet with zero debt

While facing headwinds in North and South America, Major Drilling’s strong performance in Asia and Africa (revenue up 15.9%) demonstrates the value of geographic diversification. This global presence, combined with specialized capabilities, positions the firm to benefit from varying regional mining cycles and commodity demands.

Adding to this, the firm’s fortress balance sheet not only provides a safety net but also positions it to capitalize on strategic opportunities where competitors may struggle.

The stock trades at a reasonable 14.9 times the company’s forward earnings forecast, a valuation which appears cheap to an investment fund that just bought 7.15% of the company.

MAJOR DRILLING GROUP INTERNATIONAL INC. (Symbol MDI on Toronto) is a large contract driller mainly serving the mining industry.

In the quarter ended July 31, 2024, the company’s revenue fell 4.4%, to $190.0 million from $198.9 million a year earlier.

More specifically, revenue in the Canada-U.S. region fell 14.1% to $87.2 million. The decrease was mainly due to a lack of junior financing.

[ofie_ad]

South and Central American revenue decreased by 3.5% to $49.8 million for the quarter. The decline was due to decreased copper activity.

Asian and African operations reported revenue of $49.8 million, which was up 15.9% from the same period last year. Demand for specialized services in Australia and Mongolia drove the growth in the quarter.

Major Drilling earned $15.9 million, or $0.19 a share, in the quarter, down 27.1% from $21.8 million, or $0.26.

The company’s balance sheet remains strong, with cash of $85.9 million, or $1.05 a share. It also has no long-term debt.

Mining Stocks: Major Drilling’s outlook remains positive

In July 2024, the company also made a $15 million strategic investment in DGI Geoscience Inc. That gives it a 39.8% equity interest (and a 42.3% voting interest). Headquartered in Canada DGI and its subsidiaries are focused on downhole survey and imaging services as well as using artificial intelligence for logging scanned rock samples.

More recently, Royce Investment Partners, an investment fund led by Chuck M. Royce, acquired 7.15% of Major Drilling’s shares. Royce focuses on companies with market capitalizations up to $5 billion. The firm looks for stocks that it sees as trading below their estimated enterprise value. Royce’s investment philosophy also emphasizes a strong balance sheet, a successful business track record, and the potential for a profitable future.

Recommendation in Power Growth Investor: Major Drilling Group International Inc. is a buy.

Copy
Link copied
Email
Print

commodity investment value

Scott Clayton

Scott is an associate editor at TSI Network. He is the lead reporter and analyst for Dividend Advisor, Power Growth Investor and Canadian Wealth Advisor and a member of the Investment Planning Committee. Scott began his investment and financial career working with Pat McKeough at The Investment Reporter in the 1980s. Subsequently, he worked at the Financial Post Corporation Service for 10 years. He joined TSI Network in 1998. He is a Bachelor of Economics graduate of York University, and he also has an M.B.A. from the Schulich School of Business.

Find 5 Safe Stocks to
Buy & Hold for Long-Term
Growth and Steady Income

No Credit Card Required

SEND ME THIS FREE REPORT

Testimonials

The cornerstones of Pat’s strategy–value, diversification and timelines–make his newsletter, The Successful Investor, highly profitable while minimizing risk. His advice is no-nonsense, down-to-earth and based on solid research. You’ll know what to invest in and what to avoid.

Chuck Chakrapani, PhD
Investors Association of Canada
The older I get the better dividends look. For retirees and would-be retirees who want to sleep at night, I can’t think of a better source of information on reliable growing dividend income than Pat McKeough’s newsletter, Dividend Advisor.

Jonathan Chevreau
Financial Post Columnist
As a manager of more than $500 million in mutual funds, I have access to the best brokerage research available in this country. But I still take time to read Pat McKeough’s premium newsletters

John Sartz
I appreciate the 25 years of above market returns I received by following your advice. at least 95% of my investment decisions were based on TSI recommendations.

Chuck J.
Subscriber since 1996. Inner Circle Member Since 2006
The newsletters I receive in Inner Circle Pro are fantastic! I have been following Pat’s advice for years and everything he has said has been amazing. His commentaries are brilliant, insightful, educational, rational and balanced. My returns are almost double the TSE and I have referred many of my friends who have switched over to your services.

Walter H.
Inner Circle Pro subscriber

Free Reports

5 Best Stocks to Buy This Month

The Successful Investor Approach to AI Investing

7 Winning Strategies for Dividend Investors

The Best Blue Chips for Canadian Investors

The ETF Investor’s Handbook

The Canadian Guide on How to Invest in Stocks Successfully

Power and Profits of Energy Stocks

Juniors to Giants: The Complete Guide to Mining Stocks

How to Find the Best Growth Stocks

7 Pro Secrets to Value Investing

Browse Topics

Blue Chip Stocks

Blue chip stocks are big, well-established, dividend-paying corporations with strong business prospects. These are companies that also have sound management that should be able to make the right moves to keep competing successfully in a changing marketplace.

Dividend Stocks

Dividend stocks make cash payouts that serve as a way for companies to share the wealth they’ve accumulated. These payouts are drawn from earnings and cash flow and paid to the shareholders of the company. Typically, these dividends are paid quarterly, although they may be paid annually or even monthly as well.

Value Stocks

What are value stocks?

One of the sweetest and most profitable pleasures of successful investing is to buy high-quality “value stocks” (or stocks that are reasonably priced, if not cheap, in relation to its sales, earnings or assets), then hold on to them as mainstream investors recognize the value and push up the share price.

Growth Stocks

Growth stocks are companies that are likely to have sales and earnings growth well above market average. Frequently they pay few, if any, dividends. Instead they typically reinvest any extra cash flow to promote further growth. Chosen wisely—according to Pat McKeough’s advice—high-quality growth-oriented stocks can be worthwhile additions to most well-diversified portfolios.

ETFs

What are ETFs?

ETF is an acronym for exchange traded fund.. These exchange traded funds are used to track indexes as closely as possible, since investors cannot actually buy an index outright.

How To Invest

Pat McKeough has been making investing for beginners simple—and profitable—by helping investors make big gains for more than 25 years. His advice to beginning investors is the same as it is for all investors: buy high-quality, mostly dividend paying stocks (or ETFs that hold these stocks) and evenly spread your investments over the five main economic sectors (Resources, Manufacturing, Finance, Utilities and Consumer). Pat also believes investors should avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight and focus on those with hidden or little-noticed assets.

Wealth Management

Wealth management is the practice of putting your savings to work so that it continues to grow over your lifetime and will also benefit your heirs. Wealth management encompasses many different areas of investing like long term investment planning and retirement planning.

AI Investing

Artificial intelligence (AI) is essentially the merging of today’s big computing with big data. This has resulted in breakthroughs in everything from creating machines to recognize faces with more accuracy than a human, to the development of chatbots able to collect, organize and simplify all the Internet has to say on any topic.

Spinoffs

One of the ways a company can try to unlock its own hidden value is by creating a separate company out of a corporate subsidiary. The parent company can either sell stock in the new company to the public, or spin it off—hand the stock out to its own investors.

Penny Stocks

A penny stock in general trades for under five dollars a share, and as the name implies, sometimes for pennies. Most of the time they’re young companies, or start-ups in speculative markets like mining or technology.

Mining Stocks

Mining stocks are investments in companies that produce or explore for minerals. Some of these minerals include uranium, coal, molybdenum (which is used in steelmaking), copper, silver and gold. They are affected by fluctuating commodity prices in addition to their own business and operating risks.

Energy Stocks

What are energy stocks?

Businesses that work in the extraction, refining and delivery of energy sources such as natural gas, oil, uranium and coal, are considered energy stocks.