Hello Friends! Thanks for stopping by. Remember, as long as you consult with your investment advisor, you are more than welcome to any of my ideas here. The other night I was on a Yahoo chat for stock chat and mentioned I had a blog. (Always looking for hits lol)...somebody said they hated blogs because they were so boring. I will need to make sure I am more entertaining....but no jokes right now.
I came across this stock today and it is a timely theme. We have one other Armor type stock on this site which has also done quite well, Ceradyne (CRDN). In the news today, Armor Holdings announced a $40 million department of defense order for body armor insert plates. This news was enough to get the stock moving, with 15 minutes prior to the close of trading Armor Holdings (AH) is trading at $26.35, up $1.28 on the day or 5.11%.
According to money.cnn.com, Armor Holdings (AH) "...is a global provider of security risk management services to multinational corporations and governmental agencies.
AH also manufactures security products for law enforcement personnel around the world."
On November 4, 2003, as reported by Yahoo.com and picked up from PRNewswire-First Call, Armor Holdings reported their third quarter results. Revenue from continuing operations increased 12.8% to $90.9 million from $80.6 million the prior year. Net income was $6.1 million or $.22/share compared to a loss of ($14.7) million or ($.49)/share the prior year.
Looking at Morningstar.com, we find a nice pattern of revenue growth from $45.6 million in 1998, $96.7 million in 1999, $139.9 million in 2000, $197.1 million in 2001, $305.1 million in 2002 and $326.0 million in the trailing twelve months.
Unfortunately, earnings per share were positive at $.50 in 1998 and turned negative in 2002 at ($.57), and ($.54) in the trailing twelve months. The latest quarter is positive so this appears to be addressed (imho).
Free cash flow has been improving with ($6) million reported in 2000, $11 million in 2001, $10 million in 2002 and $25 million in the trailing twelve months.
The balance sheet looks nice with $10.8 million in cash and $164.5 million in other current assets as opposed to $74.0 million in current liabilities and only $20.0 million in long-term liabilities.
Looking at Yahoo.com for "key statistics", we find that the Market Cap for AH is $740.16 million with a trailing p/e of 33.25 and a forward p/e (fye 31-Dec-04) at 21.80. The PEG ratio is 1.67 and price/sales at 1.67 so this is NOT a screaming bargain but not too steeply priced.
By the way, I do NOT own any shares of this company. There are 28.18 million shares outstanding with 24.00 million of them that float. Currently, as of 11/10/03 per Yahoo, there are 1.20 million shares out short, up from 1.04 million last month. This represents 6.641 trading days...so there is some short pressure on this stock!
Overall, I like this stock. I am convinced that this "armor" segment is an area that is under great demand at this time with our military involved in a difficult situation in Afghanistan and Iraq....and the Department of Defense is in search of greater protective gear for soldiers and their equipment and vehicles. So this MIGHT be a great stock for you to discuss with your investment advisor!
Thanks again for stopping by! If you have any questions, comments, or words of encouragement, please feel free to email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com
Bob