Park Lawn Corp. (STAR)
PLC – TSX
Park Lawn Corp. investors must feel as if they’ve died and gone to heaven. Shares of the funeral home and cemetery operator soared above the clouds after it agreed to be taken private for $26.50 a share – or $1.2-billion, including debt – by an affiliate of Homesteaders Life Co. and Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. Park Lawn’s board unanimously endorsed the all-cash offer, which was at a 62-per-cent premium to the stock price before the deal was announced, and recommended shareholders approve the deal at a special meeting on or about July 29. Not voting in favour would be a grave mistake.
GFL Environmental Inc. (STAR)
GFL – TSX
Let’s begin a brief guided meditation. I want you to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and think about solid waste. Imagine you’re at a landfill site piled high with rotting garbage and old tires. Breathe in the putrid odours. Feel the flies on your face. Not very pleasant, is it? Well, it is to investors in GFL Environmental Inc. Shares of the Toronto-based waste management company surged after The Globe and Mail reported that GFL has retained J.P. Morgan to consider potential buyout offers for all or part of its business. With the stock hitting its highest level since GFL went public in 2020, investors can’t get enough of the stench.
BMO Equal Weight REITs Index ETF (STAR)
ZRE – TSX
You can’t go wrong investing in real estate, they said. So you sank half your RRSP into real estate investment trusts, only to watch them plunge in price when the pandemic sent inflation and interest rates to their highest levels in decades. Well, now that the Bank of Canada has finally cut its benchmark interest rate, REIT prices are starting to perk up again. The BMO Equal Weight REITs Index ETF had its biggest percentage gain of the year after the central bank’s announcement on Wednesday. So, yeah, they were wrong about real estate last time. But this time, you really, really can’t miss investing in real estate.
Bath & Body Works Inc. (DOG)
BBWI – NYSE
Bath & Body Works Inc. sells a wide assortment of scented candles, body lotions and aromatherapy products to make your home and skin smell fabulous. Too bad its stock is stinking up the joint. The shares suffered their biggest drop in more than four years after the company topped first-quarter earnings estimates but issued a disappointing second-quarter forecast, including sales that are expected to be flat to down 2 per cent and earnings per share of between 31 US cents and 36 US cents, below analysts’ estimates of 38 US cents. Phew. Someone open a window.
Vail Resorts Inc. (DOG)
MTN – NYSE
Scary: Skiing a double black diamond run at Whistler Blackcomb. Scarier: Investing in the company that owns Whistler Blackcomb. Already down by nearly half from their 2021 high, shares of Vail Resorts Inc. suffered a nasty wipeout after the company posted revenue and earnings below expectations for its third quarter ended April 30. With warm weather and a lack of snow keeping skiers away from its resorts during the winter season, the company also cut its fiscal 2024 earnings guidance for a second time after trimming its outlook in March. Call the ski patrol! We’re gonna need a stretcher!
John Heinzl