Superior Plus Gains on BMO Analyst Upgrade

Superior Plus Corp. (SPB), the largest propane distributor in Canada, gained the most in two months after an analyst upgraded the stock on the view the company’s two main divisions will rise in value.

Superior Plus rose 5.6 percent to C$9.42 at the close in Toronto. Earlier, the Calgary-based company gained as much as 6.5 percent, the biggest intraday increase since Aug. 3. It has surged 63 percent this year, making it the best-performing stock in the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Industrials Index.

Jason Granger, equity analyst at BMO Capital Markets, raised his 12-month target to C$11 per share from C$9 on Aug.9.

“We have become more comfortable with the scale of opportunities,” from the company’s earnings improvement plans, Granger said in a note to clients. The previously “underperforming” Canadian propane and construction products divisions are expected to increase in value by at least 20 percent in the next two to three years.

Granger cited Chief Executive Officer Luc Desjardins, hired in 2011, as a positive influence, as well as the company’s move to pay down its debt by reducing its dividend, improving its working capital management and introducing initiatives to improve efficiency.

Desjardins “is highly regarded, has a strong operational focus and track record in business restructuring,” Granger said.

Superior will make an estimated C$301 million in Ebitda in 2014, Granger said in the note, an increase of an expected C$272 million in 2013.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katia Dmitrieva in Toronto at edmitrieva1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net