19/09/2023 09:22

Costa Group Ltd (CGC) $2.84

Interestingly, we saw Paine Schwartz reduce its bid for CGC by 30c to $3.20 on Monday, after undertaking two months of due diligence and accounting for Costa’s weaker profit outlook, including a painful $30 million hit from adverse weather conditions. On the day, the stock closed more than -12% below the “best & final” offer.

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04/07/2023 16:50

Costa Group (CGC) $3.34

CGC +12.08%: The fruit and veg grower, packer and marketer rallied today on a private equity takeover tilt lobbed at $3.50 per share. Paine Schwartz Partners had acquired 13.78% of CGC in October at $2.60, at the time saying they had no interest in taking the lot.

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04/07/2023 09:37

Costa Group Ltd (CGC) $2.98

Fruit and vegetable grower/supplier CGC has endured a tough time since COVID but we believe the stocks now formed a major low. Last month we discussed how the company’s international operations were delivering strong results and we believed this is a turnaround story in the making, unfortunately at the time we were looking for dips back toward $2.50 as a low-risk entry opportunity but now the dial appears to have turned towards the stock and we have to consider being more proactive.

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27/06/2023 09:25

Costa Group (CGC) $2.73

Fruit and vegetable producer CGC has been a shocking investment over the last 5 years with its share price plunging over 70% and now the grower of berries, tomatoes and mushrooms may be in the wrong place at the wrong time i.e. a lot of their produce could easily be called the luxury end of a shopping basket. However earlier this month MM wrote about how the company’s international operations were delivering strong results and we believe this is a turnaround story in the making, albeit for the brave.

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09/06/2023 09:00

Costa Group Ltd (CGC) $2.67

CGC has been a serial underperformer since 2018 but it’s looking increasingly like the stock formed a major low in late 2022. From a valuation perspective, at face value, it is not overly compelling on 19x while being estimated to yield 4.5% over the next 12 months.

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25/05/2023 17:01

Costa Group (CGC) $2.54

CGC +6.72%: Held their AGM today and provided a positive trading update, which have been few and far between in recent years. They talked to improving trends across their business with recent investments into new production capacity, namely in Mushrooms and Tomatoes paying dividends. Their international operations are doing best, with very strong profit results emerging from both China and Morocco. They saw evidence that the increased input cost pressures of 2021-22 are slowly easing while an improvement in labour availability was also a plus. We have held Costa (CGC) in the past and lost money, however, this is a leveraged business, and when times are good, they can generate very strong earnings.

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30/03/2023 09:30

Costa Group Ltd (CGC) $2.46

CGC is Australia's leading producer in the $8bn fresh fruit and vegetables market, the company operates over 3000 Ha of farmland, 7 mushroom facilities, and 20 Ha of glasshouse facilities across Australia in 4 core categories: Mushrooms, Berries, Tomatoes (glasshouse-grown) and Citrus. CGC enjoys the number one market share ranking in each of its core categories. The company operates offshore through JVs in Morocco and China and licenses its blueberry IP in the Americas and Morocco.

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17/11/2022 09:35

Costa Group Ltd (CGC) $2.68

CGC has been one of the market’s major disappointments over the last 4-years but the recent news of US Private Equity Fund Paine Schwartz has taken its stake up to 15% has sparked many investors’ attention, although they have said they have no intention of a takeover.

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27/10/2022 09:18

Costa Group Ltd (CGC) $2.47

CGC closed up +10.8% yesterday as the fruit and veg company jumped to a 1-month high as US Private Equity Fund Paine Schwartz took their stake up to 15%, primarily through a block trade at a 16% premium to the previous close i.e. at $2.60. Importantly the fund won’t be able to take its 9.9% direct position any higher without FIRB approval and said they have no intention of a takeover.

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18/10/2022 09:38

Costa Group (CGC) $2.00

Yesterday we saw Costa Group (CGC) tumble over -13% after the company revealed some issues in their Citrus crop that will meaningfully impact earnings, if it’s not one thing it’s another at CGC and it simply feels a very tough business to operate with many moving parts, some of which are highly unpredictable like the weather. CSLA upgraded the stock this morning to a buy and $2.70 price target, however, even though the stock is plumbing 7-year lows it remains in the too-hard basket for us.

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