Spoke with IR...Had a very good conversation with IR today (they returned my call within hours which I appreciate). The gentleman I spoke with was very well informed as to what is taking place in the markets and the head winds facing the industry and CPG. No arrogance. And in fact, very sympathetic to what is happening in the market.
He did say the unusual high volume the last couple of days is due to coming off the MCSI Index. We agreed that this has nothing to do with fulfilling CPG's strategy though, and more about turbulence in the share price.
With respect to the current CEO, it seems that he is more a "show me" CEO than his predecessor. Unbenounced to most of us, the CEO has actually been out talking to investors and analysts. In fact, the institutional ownership has increased since the last quarter. He's not about appearing on BNN and being in the media spotlight as the message could easily be spun into fake and uncontrollable rhetoric (that's my take). His preference is to deliver on the strategy and release news when they have accomplished a key objective (e.g. asset sale). That in my mind is prudent managment. Frankly, if CPG delivers, then the shareprice will reflect that. I note that even CRC has been cut in half in as many weeks. So talk is cheap these days in my estimation.
My take: Bottom line is if the larger global forces like Saudi and Russia play their positions (high probability), and we see a change in the Canadian government later this year (high probability), and CPG sticks to its strategy (high probability as I think this CEO is credible), then we should see the stock price appreciate significantly in 2019.