Updating our other top picks for 2016

Article Excerpt

AGT FOOD & INGREDIENTS $36.63 (Toronto symbol AGT; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (604-231 -1100; www.agtfoods.com; Shares outstanding: 23.9 million; Market cap: $876.5 million; Dividend yield: 1.6%) buys, processes and distributes a range of pulses—peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas—as well as other specialty crops. Based in Saskatchewan, the company owns 13 processing plants in Canada, nine in Turkey, four in Australia, two in the U.S., one in China and another in South Africa. In the three months ended June 30, 2016, AGT’s earnings per share jumped 24.4%, to $0.56 from $0.45 a year earlier. Revenue gained 16.0%, to $438.7 million from $378.2 million. The company’s acquisitions contributed to those increases. They include short-line railways and bulk-loading facilities in Saskatchewan. Another big part of AGT’s growing success has come from processing crops beyond cleaning, sorting and bagging them. The company is now focused on selling higher-profit-margin products such as flour, starch and other ingredients as well as packaged foods. Demand for pulses…