Is Ag's Parabolic Move Signaling a Top? (POT, MOS, AGU)

After hitting new 52-week highs this morning, shares of several popular ag companies have sold-off as traders are likely locking in profits following yesterday's surge in the industry.

• Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) moved to a new all-time high when its shares went as high as $199.89, but Potash is now down about $6, or 3%, to $192.14.
  
  Potash is up about 20% from the beginning of April and up about 30% year-to-date.
  
  Potash now trades at a P/E of 58.77x.
  
  
• The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) reached a new 52-week high when its stock price hit $139. Shares of Mosaic are now down about $3.78, or 2.8% to $133.00.
  
  Shares of Mosaic have risen about 30% so far in April and about 41% during 2008.
  
  Mosaic trades at a P/E of 41.72x.
  
  
• Agrium (NYSE: AGU) hit a new high at $90.29 this morning and has sold-off the least amount of these three ag plays: Agrium stock is only down about $1.50, or 1.7%, to $85.44.
  
  Agrium has moved from under $65 on April 1 to today's price just over $85, a 38% gain for the month. On a year-to-date basis, Agrium is the underperformer when compared to Potash and Mosaic - its stock has jumped only about 19%.
  
  When considering valuation multiples, Agrium appears to be the least expensive as it trades at only 26.5x earnings.

Ag stocks such as Potash, Mosaic and Agrium have become increasingly popular over the last year and share prices have certainly reflected this uptrend: Potash is about 215% higher than its year-ago price, Mosaic is about 330% higher and Agrium has risen by about 100% from its price in April of '07.

As this month has been one of the most momentous periods for ag stocks over the last year, more and more investors are hearing about the ag play and jumping into the sector. Market pundits have been calling the recent spike in prices "parabolic", and often try to correlate such movement with a top. Could this really be the end of ag's run? [BCS]

You May Also Be Interested In

• The Mosaic Company (MOS) Declares $0.22 Quarterly Dividend; 3.7% Yield
• MOSAIC ANNOUNCES QUARTERLY DIVIDEND OF $0.22 PER SHARE
• This stock is Citi's top pick in the industrial and consumer electronics sectors