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Cannabis stocks were mixed Friday, with the big Canadian players mostly higher on Day 3 of fully legalized recreational weed as investors digested the latest crop of deals and capital raises.
Canopy Growth Corp., the company armed with a $4 billion war chest thanks to an investment by Corona beer maker Constellation Brands Inc.(STZ) , led the pack in early trade with a more than 4% gain. Canopy(WEED.T) (WEED.T)has more cash than its rivals and has the largest square footage available to grow cannabis and agreements with every Canadian province to sell its products.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.T)was up 2.5%. Aurora was a standout on the first day of legal weed by having more shopkeeping units, or SKUs, available than its peers did, according to GMP analyst Martin Landry . In Ontario , where initial sales are happening online, Aurora and MedReleaf had 31 SKUs listed, which was the largest of all the limited partnerships under coverage, Landry wrote in a Thursday note.
"In addition, their average price point of C$11.80 ( $15.30 ) is higher than the Ontario average of C$11.34 ," said the note.
Cronos Group Inc.(CRON.T) (CRON.T)was up 1.9% and Tilray Inc.was up 2.1%. Aprhia Inc. (APH.T)was up 1.8%.
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The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (TGOD.T)was down about 3%, after it announced the closing of a capital raising of C$76 million to help fund its expansion plans. The Ontario -based company specializes in organic cultivation and grows cannabis without the use of synthetic pesticides.
iAnthus Capital Holdings Inc.was down 3.5%, after it announced an agreement to merge with the U.S. operations of MPX Bioceuticals in an all-stock deal valued at $835 million . MPX shareholders will receive iAnthus shares worth about $ 1.28 , as well as common shares in the new MPX International , which will house all of its non- U.S. operations.
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The combined company will have cannabis licenses in 10 U.S. states, giving it 56 retail outlets and 14 cultivation- and-processing facilities. The 10 states are expected to generate about $16.2 billion in annual cannabis sales by 2022, according to Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics, cited in the iAnthus release.
"The U.S. cannabis market depends on three key factors for success: scale, access to capital and great people to make it all work," said iAnthus CEO Hadley Ford . "This acquisition improves our position in all three."
Cormark Securities said the deal will catapult iAnthus into several attractive markets, expand its pipeline of new stores and puts it in the application queue in New Jersey .
"It is becoming increasingly clear that the race is on by the multistate operators to become big, and to do it quickly," analyst Jesse Pytlak wrote in a note. "With IAN now able to achieve a scale similar to many of its more highly valued peers, we think the company will capture increased investor attention as it derisks and operationalizes several of its key assets over the coming quarters."
Cormark is reiterating its buy rating on the stock and raised its stock price target to C$9.25 from C$8.25 .
Elsewhere, Quebec -based medical-cannabis company Hexo Corp.(HEXO.T) (HEXO.T)was down 2% and Aleafia Health Inc.(ALEF.V) (ALEF.V)was down 0.3%.
CannTrust Holdings Inc. shares(TRST) (TRST.T)were down 1.3%.
The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETFwas up 1.1%, while the ETF Alternative Harvest ETF(MJ)was up 0.6%.
The S&P 500was up 0.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Averagewas up 0.6%.
In case you've missed it, check out MarketWatch's comprehensive coverage of Canada's cannabis legalization (http:// www.marketwatch.com/topics/columns/cannabis-watch), including profiles of the six big players