Thursday, December 12, 2013

Seeking Alpha: The Street's Ag Blues Seem To Be Weighing On American Vanguard

This has been a frustrating year for American Vanguard (AVD) and its shareholders. While the stock has done a fair bit better than fertilizer names, it has absolutely lagged other crop-related stocks like Monsanto (MON), DuPont (DD), and FMC (FMC). Bad weather hit the company hard around mid year, and even though results (and the stock) have recovered since, the damage was already done.

In my view, American Vanguard's prospects and appeal as a stock have a lot to do with your time frame. It looks as though the company is going to go into next year with more inventory than normal, but the Street is already well aware of this issue. There are also more rumblings about competition, but I have to wonder if this is a real change in philosophy on the part of major chemical companies or more of a passing fancy. American Vanguard does seem undervalued today, at least enough so as to deliver an expected long-term return in the double-digits, but with the markets turning skittish on the ag sector, this is likely only a good name for more patient investors.

Continue here:
The Street's Ag Blues Seem To Be Weighing On American Vanguard

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