Bulls And Bud Of The Week: iAnthus Capital And The Green Heart Wellness Center

Welcome to the latest installment of "Bulls and Bud," a column where we take a look at some of the most promising stocks and brands in the legal cannabis industry.

The Bull: iAnthus

The big news in pot stocks last week was the Canopy Growth Corp (NYSE: CGC)-Acreage Holdings Inc (OTC: ACRGF) deal. Canopy now has the right to buy Acreage for $3.4 billion once the prohibition of cannabis is lifted in the U.S., which could happen in less than three years.

This is a massive deal, and make no mistake, it won’t be the last one.

We know Canopy has been in talks with other multi-state operators, and I suspect Canopy isn’t the only major Canadian cannabis player with enough scratch to buy other quality U.S. assets. The question is: Who’s next?

Of course, I have no way to know the answer to this question, but if I had hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on a buying spree, I’d be focusing on undervalued assets in the U.S. cannabis space.

One of those is iAnthus Capital Holdings Inc (OTC: ITHUF).

iAnthus has a massive footprint with cultivation, processing and retail facilities across 11 states. It’s been actively expanding its presence throughout the U.S. through some very smart acquisitions, and of course it's very big deal with MPX Bioceuticals, which had the two companies combine in an all-stock transaction valued at about $625 million. That deal launched iAnthus into the same competitive arena as some of the other bigger multi-state operators, such as Green Thumb Industries Inc (OTC: GTBIF) and Curaleaf Holdings Inc (OTC: CURLF).

Today, iAnthus is operating on the same playing field as some of the more popular U.S. players, yet the stock is trading at a pretty significant discount to its competitors.

A few weeks ago, Beacon Securities took notice of this when analyst Russell Stanley reiterated his $16 price target on the stock, saying:

[iAnthus] now trades at approximately 11x our 2020E EBITDA estimate. This represents a 49 per cent discount to the 21x average of the broad peer group and a 69 per cent discount to the 34x average amongst companies with a C$1 billion plus market capitalization.

Today, the stock trades for less than $6 per share. If Stanley is right, this is a potential gain of more than 160 percent.

Of course, given the footprint of iAnthus, and the fact it’s trading at such a significant discount to its peers, it could also make a very nice acquisition target for some of those deep-pocketed Canadian cannabis players looking to dominate the U.S. in the same way it has dominated Canada.

Certainly we’ll find out soon enough.

The Bud: The Green Heart Wellness Center

I’ve never been big on CBD. While I understand the health and wellness benefits of this amazing compound, the truth is, taking straight CBD has never really done anything for me.

I’ve tried capsules, edibles, and vapes from dozens of different companies. And the results have always been the same: Buyer’s remorse.

In all fairness, I do enjoy the psychoactive quality of THC. And I’ve definitely had some quality products with CBD/THC ratios. Outco actually makes a really nice 3:1 CBD/THC ratio tincture. That's probably the cleanest I’ve ever had.

But in terms of just CBD, I’ve been fairly disappointed. That is, until I tried a CBD product made by the Green Heart Wellness Center.

I discovered this outfit a couple of years ago while attending the New West Summit in Oakland. I was fortunate enough to enjoy a free sample, and while I expected nothing, I was pleasantly surprised to actually feel something. And it was nice.

It only took a few minutes to kick in, and the experience was solid. I got a little tingling in my toes, and a gentle wave of pleasure came over me. It was similar to the feeling I get after having a massage. Not quite as intense, but definitely along those lines.

The CBD, which came in the form of an oil, was just one of the components in a short list of ingredients that included a vitamin B blend, California poppy and St. John’s Wort.

Now I’m not a chemist or an herbalist, so I can’t get into the particulars of how all these ingredients work together to bring about such a pleasant experience. All I know is that the folks who put this recipe together clearly know what they’re doing. Which is nice, considering there are now so many scam CBD products on the market.