Hello Friends! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice. As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor so PLEASE consult with your professional investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.
Looking through the list of top % gainers on the NYSE this evening, I came across Landauer (LDR) which closed at $52.90, up $2.45 or 4.86% on the day. I do not own any shares nor do I have any options on this stock.
According to the Yahoo "Profile" on LDR, the company "...provides analytical services to determine personnel exposure to occupational and environmental radiation hazard in the workplace and home in the United States."How about the latest quarterly report? On April 25, 2005, Landauer reported 2nd quarter 2005 results. For the quarter ended March 31, 2005, revenues came in at $19.7 million, up 8% from $18.2 million the prior year. Net income came in at $5.1 million or $.57/diluted share, up from $4.8 million or $.54/diluted share the prior year same quarter.
How about longer-term? Taking a look at the "5-Yr Restated" financials on Morningstar.com, we can see that revenue has been growing steadily from $47.2 million in 2000 to $71.4 million in the trailing twelve months (TTM).LDR has a pretty picture of steady earnings growth, except for a dip from $1.83 in 2002 to $1.69 in 2003. However, earnings once again rebounded and have grown to $2.02 in the TTM.
In addition, LDR has been paying dividends, which while also dipping between 2001 and 2002, have grown from there from $1.40/share to $2.03 in the TTM.
Free cash flow has been positive and growing, from $13 million in 2002 to $20 million in the TTM.
The balance sheet looks adequate if not fabulous, with $10.3 million in cash and $23.5 million in other current assets, balanced against $31.4 million in current liabilities and $5.7 million in long-term liabilities.
What about some "Key Statistics" on LDR from Yahoo? There we can see that this is a small mid-cap stock with a market capitalization of only $473.98 million.The trailing p/e isn't bad at 25.75, and the forward p/e (fye 30-Sep-06) is a bit better at 22.90. However the PEG ratio is 2.60, and the Price/Sales is 6.16.
Other key statistics from Yahoo show Landauer with only 8.96 million shares outstanding with 8.28 million of them that float.
Currently, as of 5/10/05, there are 261.38 thousand shares out short representing 3.00% of the float, or 11.3 trading days of volume. With my 3-day cut off, this appears, at least at first glance to be quite significant.
The company pays a large dividend of $2.08/share yielding 4.15%. No stock splits are reported on Yahoo.
And what does the chart look like? Taking a look at a "Point & Figure" chart on LDR from Stockcharts.com:
All I can say is "WOW!". Look at that chart! This chart, which bottomed in July, 2000, at around $14, has been heading almost directly higher, with the current move to $52.90 continuing its trend. The chart looks very strong to me!
So what do I think? Well, if my COH holds up I shall be in the market for a new holding, and if this stock was moving higher on the day I sell my next partial position, I certainly would look twice at this one!
Let's review: stock made a nice move higher today, last quarter was solid, past five years was almost perfectly steady with revenue and earnings growth, free cash flow is positive and growing and the balance sheet looks reasonable if not fantastic. The stock, valuation-wise is no bargain, and the PEG is over 2.0. But the chart looks phenomenal. All-in-all not such a shabby report at all!
Thanks again for stopping by! I can only talk about this stock at the moment, as I am not in the market until I sell a portion of one of my holdings at a gain. COH is flirting with a 300% gain for me (which is my next sale point)....so I may be buying something soon (?). Anyhow,
Thanks for visiting. Please feel free to leave comments right here on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.
Bob