Topic: How To Invest

Dear Pat: What are your thoughts about Cervus Equipment? Thank you for your help.

Article Excerpt

Cervus Equipment, $10.35, symbol CVL on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 14.2 million; Market cap: $146.7 million), owns and operates 30 heavy equipment dealerships in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The company’s dealerships sell and service equipment made under a number of brands, including John Deere (farm equipment), Bobcat and JCB (construction equipment), and Clark, Sellick, Nissan and Doosan (material-handling equipment, such as forklifts). The company also has interests in two John Deere dealerships in New Zealand. In the three months ended June 30, 2010, Cervus’s revenue rose 21%, to $127.9 million, from $105.7 million a year earlier. The revenue increase was mainly the result of two recent acquisitions: Cervus bought Ranchers Supply Inc. in September 2009, and A.R. Williams Materials Handling Ltd. in January 2010. Despite the higher revenue, earnings fell 30.9% in the latest quarter, to $5.1 million, or $0.36 a share, from $7.3 million or $0.52 a share. That’s mainly because Cervus cleared out excess used inventory through auctions, and made lower…