Hello Friends. Well the market is turning to the red now, so we may see a bit of a correction. I broke one of my rules yesterday, bought IGT after selling another stock for a loss. I am supposed to RAISE cash whenever we sell for a loss....well we will see if we get by on that one.
Aceto Corporation (ACET) is having a nice day today trading as I write at $17.42 up $1.25 or 7.73%. According to Money.cnn.com, Aceto "...is engaged in the marketing of fine and industrial chemicals used principally in the agricultural, color producing, pharmaceutical and surface coating industries."
As picked up from BUSINESS WIRE, and reported on NYTimes on the Web, ACET reported results today for its first quarter ended September 30, 2003. Net sales grew 5% to $72.3 million and Operating income grew 17% to $4.2 million. By the way, I do not own any shares of ACET.
Looking at Morningstar.com, we see a steady, if not rapid, growth in revenue from $170 million in 1999, to $271 million in the trailing twelve months. Earnings per share have grown from $.60 to $.75 over the same period. Free cash flow has improved the last few years from $1 million in 2001 to $9 million in the trailing twelve months.
The balance sheet looks quite healthy with $21.1 million in cash and $89.4 million in other current assets vs. $39.0 million in current liabilities and no long-term liabilities.
Looking at Yahoo.com for some "key statistics", we find a trailing p/e of 18.62, a forward p/e of 14.18, no PEG ratio, and price/sales of 0.62. So not very expensive in general on a valuation scale.
Currently, there are 10.34 million shares outstanding with 10.0 million of them that float. As of 10/8/03, there are 86,000 shares out short. This is only a 0.585 trading days worth...so not much short interest. The company does pay a small dividend...yielding 1.42%. The last stock split was in 1985 when a 3:2 split was declared.
Overall, a fairly reasonable stock to invest but not one that gets me overall very interested. The growth rate is a bit slow for me. There are just too many other companies really hopping to get me focussed on this particular stock. But then again, this might be suitable for someone else!
Thanks for stopping by! As always, please check with your own financial advisor before taking any action on any of my commentary on this and related sites!
Bob