Stocks A-Z

STOCKS A-Z

“I just sit in my office and read all day” – Warren Buffett

---

[membership]

Individual Stock Writeups on Focused Compounding

AdvanSource Biomaterials Corp. (ASNB)

• An Attractive Microcap Arbitrage Opportunity With Limited Risk

A-Mark Precious Metals (AMRK)

• A Dealer and Lender in Physical Gold

Amadeus (BME:AMS)

• An Aggregation Platform and IT Business That Will Grow Along with Airline Passenger Volumes

Amazon (AMZN)

• How Big Can Amazon Get? 

Apple (AAPL)

• Buy it and Forget it

Ardent Leisure Group Ltd (ASX:ALG)

• Initial Interest Post and Request for Scuttlebutt
• Follow-up Post

Argan (AGX)

• A Cheap, Cyclical Construction Company With A Ton of Cash and No Debt

Ark Restaurants Corp (ARKR)

• Singular Diligence – Ark Restaurants
• Ark Restaurants: Lots Of Hidden Value + Low Liquidity + No Near-Term Catalyst = Excellent Opportunity For Patient Investors

AutoNation (AN)

• A Cheap Cannibal with Minimal Downside

Avalon Holdings (AWX) 

• An Unbelievably Cheap Controlled Company that Might Stay “Dead Money” For A Long Time

BAB (BABB)

• This Nano-Cap Franchisor of “Big Apple Bagel” Stores is the Smallest Stock I Know of That’s a Consistent Free Cash Flow Generator

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW)

• Singular Diligence – Babcock and Wilcox
• A Risky Stock Getting Activist Attention

Ball (BLL)

• A Debt Laden, “Economic Value Added” Obsessed Organization with a Super Wide Moat

Bancinsurance (BCIS)

• First Letter
• Second Letter

Bank of Hawaii Corporation (BOH)

• Singular Diligence – Bank of Hawaii

Bank of N.T. Butterfield (NTB)

• A great wealth franchise and interest rate derivative

BOK Financial Corporation (BOKF)

• Singular Diligence – BOK FInancial

Booking Holdings (BKNG)

• A Fast Growing Industry Leader Build on Network Effects and a Strong Brand

Breeze-Eastern Corporation (BZC)

• Singular Diligence – Breeze Eastern

Bonal (BONL)

• An Extremely Tiny, Extremely Illiquid Stock that Earns A Lot But Doesn’t Grow at All

Box Inc (BOX)

• Negative Earnings and Free Cash Flow Disguise Beautiful Customer Economics

Bunzl (BNZL)

• A Distributor with 20 Straight Years of EPS Growth and 27 Straight Years of Dividend Growth – Facing a Virus That’ll Break At Least One of Those Streaks

Burford Capital Limited (BUR)

• Burford Capital is complicated to value; and so vulnerable to opportunistic short sellers, but this weakness offers opportunities to long term investors

Butler National Corp. (BUKS)

• An Illiquid Ben Graham Style Mini-Conglomerate in Aerospace and Casinos
• A Catalyst Could Emerge Within a Month 

BWX Technologies (BWXT)

• A Leveraged, Speculative, and Expensive Growth Stock that Might be Worth It

Canterbury Park (CPHC)

• A Stock Selling for Less than the Sum of Two Parts – A Card Casino and 127-Acres of Land (Plus You Get a Horse Track for Free)

Car-Mart (CRMT)

• Like the Company, Hate the Industry
• Singular Diligence – America’s Car-Mart

Cars.com (CARS)

• A Cheap Enough Stock with a Clear Catalyst and Tons of Rivals

Carrier (CARR)

• A Big, Well-Known Business that Just Spun-off as a Cheap, Leveraged Stock

Carrols Restaurant Group (TAST)

• America’s Biggest Burger King Franchisee Comes with “Rights of First Refusal”

Cimpress (CMPR)

• Cimpress

Citigroup Capital Securities XII

• a high yield trust preferred from Citi

Commerce Bancshares, Inc (CBSH)

• Singular Diligence – Commerce Bancshares

Computer Services Inc (CSVI)

• An Unlisted, But Super Predictable Company Trading at an Unleveraged P/E of 15 times Next Year’s Earnings

CountPlus (CUP)

• CountPlus Investment Thesis

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc (CFR)

• Singular Diligence – Frost

Daily Journal (DJCO)

• A Stock Portfolio, Some Real Estate, Some Dying Newspapers, and a Growing Tech Company with Minimal Disclosures

DHI Group (NYSE: DHX)

• The parent company of subsidiaries that are engaged in online career sites and services

Digirad (DRD)

• A Cheap Microcap Transitioning into a Holding Company 

Dover Motorsports (DVD)

• Two Racetracks on 1,770 Acres and 65% of the TV Rights to 2 NASCAR Cup Series Races a Year for Just $60 million

Dunkin’ Brands (DNKN)

• A 100% Franchised Business Built on a “Morning Ritual”

Ekornes ASA (EKRNF)

• Singular Diligence – Ekornes

EM Systems (TSE: 4820)

• The Japanese Industry Leader in Pharmacy

Entercom Communications (ETM)

• The Second Largest Radio Station Owner in the U.S. Trades at a Lower EV/EBITDA Than its Debt Laden Peers
• The Joel Greenblatt Way to Bet on Entercom

Evercel Inc. (EVRC)

• A Restructured, Overlooked Holding Company Trading at 4x Normalized EBITDA – With Some Serious Strings Attached

Exxon Mobil (XOM)

• A Blue-Chip Energy Company Likely to Provide Double-Digit Returns

Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF)

• Large Upside Potential with Minimal Downside

Fannie Mae (FNMA)

• A Different view on Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) “Optionality has value”!

Fossil Group Inc (FOSL)

• Singular Diligence – Fossil

Future Bright (XHKG: 703)

• A Macau Restaurant Operator with Restructuring Potential

F.W. Thorpe

• A Good Business Making Durable Products that May Have Already Peaked

Gaia (GAIA)

• A Strange Value Investment in a Strange Streaming Service

Gainsco (GANS) 

• A Dark Nonstandard Auto Insurer That’s Cheap Based on Recent Underwriting Results

Gamehost

• Operator of 3 “Local Monopoly” Type Casinos in Alberta, Canada – Spending the Minimum on Cap-Ex and Paying the Maximum in Dividends

Gamestop (GME)

• A Risky Stock that Just Might be the Cheapest Billion Dollar Stock in Today’s Market
• The Joel Greenblatt Way to Bet on GameStop

GAN Plc (GAN)

• A Player Account Management Software providers for Casinos and Sports Gaming

Garrett Motion (GTX)

• Messy Financials, A Peculiar Indemnification Liability, & Typical Spin-off Dynamics Have Obfuscated Garrett Motion’s Attractive Underlying Economics 

General Electric (GE)

• Step Zero- Will We Ever Be Able to Value This Thing?

GrafTech (EAF)

• Contracted Cash Flows Covering 60% of the Market Cap

Grainger (GWW)

• Lower Prices, Higher Volume

Green Brick Partners (GRBK)

• Q3 Earnings: It’s Still Cheap…
• A Cheap, Complicated Homebuilder Focused on Dallas and Atlanta

Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co (HBB)

• Hamilton Beach Brands
• A Simple Business and a Super Cheap Stock Facing a Tough Cash Situation in 2020

Hanesbrands (HBI)

• A Very Cheap, Very Leveraged Stock That’s #1 in an Industry that Changes So Little Even Warren Buffett Loves It

Hilton Food (HFG)

• A Super Predictable Meat Packer with Long-Term “Cost Plus” Contracts and Extreme Customer Concentration at an Expensive – But Actually Not Quite Too Expensive – Price

Homeserve Plc (LON: HSV)

• Singular Diligence – HomeServe

Honeywell International Inc (HON)

• Geoff’s notes on Honeywell’s planned spin-off of Resideo Technologies 

Homasote (HMTC)

• A Perfect “Cocaine Brain” Candidate

Hostess Brands (TWNK)

• A Few Thoughts on Hostess Brands
• My New Position in the Portfolio

Hunter Douglas N.V. (AMS: HDG)

• Singular Diligence – Hunter Douglas

IEH Corporation (IEHC)

• May Be a Good, Cheap Stock – But, Definitely in the “Too Hard” Pile for Now

Inseego (INSG)

• A Uniquely Positioned 5g Company

Inspira Financial (LND.V)

• Liquidation of Business Provides Low Risk Opportunity

Interpublic (IPG)

• An Ad Agency Holding Company Trading at 10 times Free Cash Flow and Paying a Nearly 7% Dividend Yield

J2 Global (JCOM)

• Half Cloud, Half Digital Media and All About Acquisitions

John Wiley (JW.A)

• Singular Diligence – John Wiley

Kaanapali Land (KANP)

• A Super Illiquid Speculation on Hawaiian Land

Keweenaw Land Association (KEWL)

• Buy Timberland at Appraisal Value – Get a Proxy Battle for Free
• Why I’ve Passed on Keweenaw Land Association (so far)
• The Annual Report and the Once Every 3-Year Appraisal of its Timberland Are Out

Keywords Studios (LSE:KSW)

• A good business with a leading niche in a terrific industry – but perhaps too expensive to buy (for now)

Kingstone (KINS)

• A simple New York homeowners insurer

KLX Energy Services (KLXE)

• KLX Inc/KLX Energy Services Spinoff

Libsyn (LSYN)

• A Pretty Cheap and Very Fast Growing Podcasting Company in an Industry with a Ton of Competition
• CEO’s Departure Makes this Stock Even More Interesting

Lifetime Fitness (LTM)

• Singular Diligence – LifeTime Fitness

Luxottica Group SpA (BIT: LUX)

• Singular Diligence – Luxottica

Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP)

• 900 Acres of Hawaiian Resort Land for $250,000 an Acre

Middleby (MIDD)

• A Serial Acquirer in the (Normally) Super Steady Business of Supplying Big Restaurant Chains with Kitchen Equipment

Miller Industries (MLR)

• A Pretty Good, But Very Cyclical Business that Sells its Car Wreckers and Car Carriers Through a Loyal Distributor Base

Mills Music Trust (MMTRS)

• A Pure Play Decades Long Stream of Future Royalties on Old-Timey Songs Available at More Than an 8% Pre-Tax Yield

Monarch Cement (MCEM)

• A Cement Company With 97 Straight Years of Dividends Trading at 1.2 Times Book Value

Monro (MNRO)

• A Durable Automotive Service Chain Executing a Roll-Up

Movado Group, Inc (MOV)

• Singular Diligence – Movado

MCS Industrial Direct Co Inc (MSM)

• Singular Diligence – MSC Industrial Direct

MSCI Inc (MSCI)

• MSCI

NAACO (NC)

• The Stock Geoff Put 50% of His Portfolio Into
• Does NACCO Have Any Peers?
• What’s NAACO’s Margin of Safety?
• First Earnings Report as a Standalone Company
• A Contract Coal Miner with Stable Inflation Linked Profit Per Ton, a P/E of 10, a Strong Moat, and No Leverage

Nekkar

• Why We Bought It – And is It Cheap?

NIC Inc. (EGOV)

• A Far Above Average Business at an Utterly Average Price
• Loses Its Biggest Customer (Texas) – Stock Drops 20% Instantly

North American Energy Partners Ltd (NOA)

• North American Energy Partners

Northfield Precision Instruments Corporation (NFPC)

• A Dark, Illiquid Nanocap at an Unlevered P/E of 6

Omnicom Group (OMC)

• Singular Diligence – Omnicom

OTC Markets Group (OTCM)

• A Far Above Average Quality Company at a Fair Enough Price 

Otis (OTIS)

• The World’s Largest Elevator Company Gets the Vast Majority of Its Earnings From Maintenance Contracts With a 93% Retention Rate

Pandora A/S (CPH: PNDORA)

• Member Write-up by Luke Elliot

Pendrell (PCOA)

• A Company with Cash, a Tax Asset, and Almost No Liabilities
• Pendrell Follow-Up: Reading into a CEO’s Past and the Dangers of “Dark” Stocks

Points International (PCOM)

• A 10%+ Growth Business That’s 100% Funded by the Float from Simultaneously Buying and Selling Airline Miles

PRAP Japan (2449)

• Japan’s Healthiest Public Relations Firm – Trading At Just 4 Times EBIT

Progressive Corp (PGR)

• Singular Diligence – Progressive
• A Few thoughts on Progressive 

Prosperity Bancshares Inc (PB)

• Singular Diligence – Prosperity Bancshares

Psychemedics (PMD)

• A High Quality, Low Growth Business with a Dividend Yield Over 7% – And A Third of the Business About to Disappear

Qurate Retail (QRTEA)

• The Perfect Candidate for a Leveraged Turnaround?

Resideo Technologies (REZI)

• Geoff’s SEC Filing Notes 
• Honeywell’s Boring, No-Growth Spin-off Might Manage to Actually Grow EPS for 3-5 Years
• Stock Falls, My Interest Rises
• A somewhat Cheap, But Also Somewhat Unsafe Spin-off from Honeywell

Sandridge Energy (SD)

• A Carl Icahn Controlled Post-Bankruptcy Oil Producer With 10-35 Years of Proved Reserves in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas Trading at a Fraction of Net Asset Value

Sonics & Materials (SIMA)

• A Profitable Net-Net Building A Cash Pile

Standard Diversified (SDI/SDOIB)

• Get a Solid Tobacco Brand and a Solid Marijuana Brand at a 33% Discount to Their Market Value

Stella-Jones

• Long-Term Contracts Selling Utility Poles and Railroad Ties Add Up to A Predictable, Consistent Compounder that Unfortunately Has to Use Debt to Beat the Market

Straco Corporation (S85)

• Highly Cash Generative Aquarium Operator

Summerset (SUM)

• A New Zealand Retirement Village Developer with “Float”

Suria Capital Holdings Bhd (KLSE:Suria)

• A Cheap, Conservatively FInanced Port Concession Operator

Sydney Airport

• A Safe, Growing and Inflation Protected Asset That’s Leveraged to the Hilt

Tandy Leather Factory Inc (TLF)

• Singular Diligence – Tandy Leather Factory

The Swatch Group (VTX: UHR)

• Singular Diligence – Swatch

The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE)

• The Cheesecake Factory
• A Second Opinion
• Geoff’s Thoughts on Cheesecake Factory

The Resturant Group

• Singular Diligence – The Restaurant Group

Town Sports International Holdings, Inc (CLUB)

• Singular Diligence – Town Sports International

Transcat (TRNS)

• A Business Shifting from Distribution to Services and a Stock Shifting from Unknown and Unloved to Known and Loved

Truxton (TRUX)

• A One-Branch Nashville Private Bank and Wealth Manager Growing 10% a Year and Trading at a P/E of 14
• A Small, Fast Growing Private Bank with Extremely Low Net Non-Interest Expense

Universal Robina Corp. (URC)

• A Good, Growing Filipino Branded Food and Drink Business – That’s Not Quite Cheap Enough for Value Investors

U.S. Lime (USLM)

• A High Longevity Stock in a Low Competition Industry

Vestas Wind Systems (OCSE:VWS)

• Opportunity Summary

Village Super Market, Inc (VLGEA)

• Singular Diligence – Village Supermarkets

Vitreous Glass

• A Low-Growth, High Dividend Yield Stock with Incredible Returns on Equity and Incredibly Frightening Supplier and Customer Concentration Risks

Vulcan International (VULC)

• A Dark, Illiquid Company Planning to Liquidate its Portfolio of Bank Stocks and Dissolve 

Weight Watchers International, Inc (WTW)

• Singular Diligence – Weight Watchers

W W Grainger Inc (GWW)

• Singular Diligence – Grainger

Vertu Motors (VTU)

• A Cheap and Safe U.K. Car Dealer
• A U.K. Car Dealer, “Davis Double Play”, and Geoff’s Latest Purchase

VieMed Healthcare (VMD)

• A Founder Led Canadian Listed U.S. Ventilator Company Faces the Risk of Competitive Bidding for its Medicare Patients Starting in 2021

Zooplus (ZO1)

• Zooplus

 

[/membership]