Stuart Olson considers a sale

Article Excerpt

STUART OLSON INC. $4.17 (Toronto symbol SOX; Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 27.8 million; Market cap: $115.9 million; Dividend yield: 5.8%; Takeover Target Rating: Highest; www.stuartolson.com) provides governments and businesses with construction, electrical contracting, earthmoving and insulation services. It mainly operates in Western Canada, but recently expanded into Ontario. The company is now the target of activist investors Crescendo Partners L.P. and Jamarant Capital L.P. Those two firms have declared unspecified stock interests in Stuart Olson and want to pick one or more members for its board of directors. They have also asked the company to explore strategic alternatives, including putting itself up for sale. The activists think that the company is undervalued given the prospects for big spending by the Canadian federal and Alberta governments on pipelines and infrastructure. Meantime, Stuart Olson’s revenue in the quarter ended December 31, 2018, fell 19.5%, to $223.7 million from $282.6 million a year earlier. The decrease was mainly because several big contracts added to the year-earlier revenue but were…