Our analysts Jay Van Sciver and Ben Ryan presented the bear case on Agrium (AGU) last Wednesday with a detailed 90-slide black book during an institutional conference call. To summarize, we believe the retail business is misunderstood and subject to short-termism from an analysis perspective.
In our view, operating margins in the retail business—which have been stable post-recession—will contract meaningfully as the sector continues its long cyclical downturn. We expect margin and top line pressure at Agrium's retail unit to expose the overvaluation of this business segment by the market.
Below are some relevant slides highlighting why we think Agrium has significant downside.
**Email sales@hedgeye.com for the deck and/or related inquiry.
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