When big guys bow out

Article Excerpt

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $9.27 (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 136.8 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.2; Dividend yield: 1.7%; SI Rating: Average) slumped 4% on June 8, on news that the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan plans to sell its 35.3% stake in the company. Investors worry that some hidden problem has prompted the pension plan to sell Maple Leaf. The McCain family, which owns 31.6% of Maple Leaf, seems uninterested in buying the Teachers’ stake. However, major investors sell major investments (or choose not to buy out partners who want to sell) for a variety of reasons. The Teachers pension plan has been shifting away from common stocks and into real estate, foreign companies, private companies and other investments for a decade. Canadian stocks formerly made up a majority of the plan’s holdings. Now they represent 9%. Maple Leaf is the plan’s biggest single holding of a listed company. It bought more Maple Leaf…