Canadian miner Fission Uranium Corp. is acquiring Alpha Minerals Inc.Getty Images
Inside the Market's roundup of Canadian small caps making news and on the move today. This post will be updated during the trading day.
Denison Mines Corp. announced initial results from the 2014 summer drilling program at the Gryphon Zone, located on the Wheeler river property in the Athabasca Basin. Ten of the planned 20 drill holes have been completed thus far, including the extension of two historic drill holes. The highlight so far is drill hole WR-569A, which intersected a wide zone of alteration and mineralization with several high grade intervals.
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Rob Chang commented, "Ultimately, today's results support the possibility that the newly discovered Gryphon zone may just be the next significant high grade zone in Denison's Athabasca inventory." He maintained a $1.90 (Canadian) price target and reiterated a "buy" rating.
Shares are up more than 4 per cent in late afternoon trading.
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Calfrac Well Services Ltd. reported second-quarter EBITDA and revenues that beat Street expectations on the back of strong U.S. operations. EBITDA of $40.7-million beat the consensus expectation of $32.3-million, while revenues of $503-million beat the forecast of $392.9-million.
TD Securities analyst Scott Treadwell raised his price target to $29 (Canadian) from $26 and reiterated a "buy" rating after reviewing the results.
"We have raised our estimates materially for 2015 on the back of the result, which materially reduces our balance sheet and growth funding concerns. We now see Calfrac as a very strong fundamental business with good growth prospects and the ability to fund that growth at an appealing cost of capital," he said.
Shares in the company were up about 5 per cent early today but have since retraced much of those gains.
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Pine Cliff Energy Ltd. announced it has agreed to acquire oil and natural gas assets in one of its core areas of Carrot Creek/Edson in Alberta for $33.25-million (Canadian) in cash.
The transaction is conditional upon Pine Cliff's partner in the area, private company Velvet Energy Ltd., completing its acquisition of the assets from a third party.
The assets will result in Pine Cliff raising its 2014 production guidance and will provide for significant free cash flow, which will enable Pine Cliff to pursue further gas acquisitions and replay debt.
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Alderon Iron Ore Corp. announced that Glencore plc has agreed to buy all of the annual production from the Kami project that has not already been allocated to Hebei Iron & Steep Group.
Glencore will be obligated to purchase, upon the commencement of commercial production, 40 per cent of the actual annual production from the Kami Project up to a maximum of 3.2 million tonnes of the first 8.0 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate produced annually. Prices paid will be based on the Platts Iron Ore Index.
"With 100 per cent of the initial production from the Kami Project now committed, we believe this enhances Alderon's ability to obtain the requisite financing required to commence construction of the Kami Project," said Tayfun Eldem, Alderon's CEO.
Shares in Alderon are up 4.6 per cent in morning TSX trading and have now crossed above their 50-day moving average. Shares have gained nearly 10 per cent over the last five trading days.
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Norbord Inc. reported lower earnings of 20 cents per diluted share in the second quarter, compared with 99 cents a share a year earlier - but that still beat market expectations and shares are up more than 7 per cent in early trading.
The company, which makes wood panels for the home building market in North America, had lower sales of $311-million compared with $365-million year-over-year.
The company provided an upbeat outlook, remaining optimistic on the U.S. housing recovery in 2014, despite a slow start to the year, and expects stable demand and pricing for the next few months.
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Laurentian Bank Securities raised its price target on Trevali Mining Corp. to $1.60 (Canadian) from $1.35 and maintained a "buy" rating to reflect a higher zinc price forecast.
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Troy Resources Ltd. is getting pounded on the TSX this morning after Monday night providing its quarterly results. Shares are down about 20 per cent.
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Timmins Gold Corp. reported earnings of 2 cents in the second quarter, double that of a year ago. Gold production rose to 32,932 ounces from 28,024 a year ago. The company reiterated its production guidance for the year of 115,000 to 125,000 ounces of gold at cash costs of nearly $800 (U.S.) per ounce.
M Partners analyst Derek Macpherson commented in a note that the results overall were essentially in line with his expectations. "The company's continued operational execution supports our view that although processed grade is expected to decline for the balance of the year, Timmins' 2014 guidance is achievable, particularly since first half production is 59 per cent of the bottom end of full-year guidance, and costs remain well below guidance," he said.
Shares are up 0.5 per cent in early TSX trading.
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For the second quarter, Acadian Timber Corp. reported net sales of $12-million, 23 per cent less than net sales last year. However, the company beat EPS estimates of 7 cents, reporting an EPS of 11 cents. The company's EBITDA also declined to $1.9-million from $2.9-million last year. The timber provider said that harvest volume, which is already typically lower in the second quarter, had declined by 21 per cent compared with the year prior, though the biggest source of the decrease was the discontinuation of its vendor management inventory program, which typically delayed the recognition of sales.
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Toromont Industries Ltd. reported an 11 per cent increase in second-quarter revenues, rising to $415.6-million from $374.7-million last year. The company, which runs two arms – a construction and power services distributor and a refrigeration process distributor met EPS estimates of 37 cents. The company also reported that while its construction and power operations did well, reporting a 90 per cent increase in backlog, its refrigeration unit saw both revenues and bookings fall.
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Paradigm Capital raised its price target on Easyhome Ltd. to $30 (Canadian) from $25 and maintained a "buy" rating. Raymond James also hiked its price target to $26 from $22 and maintained an "outperform" rating. Beacon Securities raised its price target to $41.25 from $35 and maintained a "buy" rating.
Easyhome announced Monday a new $200-million credit facility that will support growth of its consumer finance operations. Shares are up a further 2 per cent this morning.
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National Bank Financial started coverage of Pine Cliff Energy with an "outperform" rating and $2.25 (Canadian) price target.
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Potash Ridge Corp. announced that the Utah Division of Water Quality issued the ground water discharge permit for the Blawn Mountain project. The receipt of the permit represents another major permitting milestone for the project, according to the company.
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Mineral exploration companies Avala Resources Ltd. and Dunav Resources Ltd. have agreed to merge, with Avala issuing Dunav shareholders 1.0457 Avala shares for every one Dunav share. Avala is down 50 per cent year-to-date and Dunav is down 62 per cent year to date.
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Supremex Inc., Canada's largest provider of stock and custom-manufactured envelopes, announced that it has entered into a multi-year agreement valued at approximately $9-million per year to supply packaging products to a customer in the U.S.
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Alacer Gold Corp. said it has filed its second-quarter 2014 financial results, reporting adjusted net profit of 3 cents a share with gold production totaling 49,795 ounces. The company said it remains on track to meet previously released full-year production and cost guidance.
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Asanko Gold Inc. announced positive results from the metallurgical test work program conducted on the Dynamite Hill deposit. Dynamite Hill is a recently discovered near surface deposit close to a processing facility that is set to begin construction next month at the company's flagship Asanko gold mine in Ghana.
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Banks Island Gold Ltd. reported that it has discovered a new mineralized gold zone at its Yellow giant operations in British Columbia. The company said that the discovery "has the potential to develop into a mineralized zone of significance" in a statement.
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First Capital Realty Inc. reported second-quarter profit of 36 cents a share, down from 34 cents a year earlier.
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Monument Mining Limited has provided an update on its current court battle with the former leaseholder of one if its gold mines in Malaysia, with the latter demanding a share of the profits. A superior "high court" ruling has stayed a judgement for Monument to pay out $10-million, though a current application is aiming to prevent the company from removing or transferring a small percentage of profits out of the country.
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New Zealand Energy Corp. announced it has been granted a 943.7 acre petroleum mining permit in the Taranaki Basin.
Darcy Keith