Pick a Consistent Grower Over a High Flyer
One company that I really think has a great mix of businesses is Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ/BCPC). I wrote about this company back in April and it has since outperformed the market nicely.
Balchem is a small-cap company that isn’t a high flyer, but has proven itself to be a consistent grower on the stock market.
This company specializes in selling ingredients and products for the food, nutrition, feed, pharmaceutical, and medical sterilization industries worldwide. Selling highly specialized products, a lot of what it sells consists of sophisticated chemical and nutrients that go in foods, feed supplies, and products that help sterilize surgical equipment. Balchem has four main businesses: ARC Specialty Products, Food, Pharma & Human Nutrition, BCP Ingredients Inc., and Animal Nutrition & Health.
According to the company, in its latest quarter ended June 30, 2008, revenues grew to a record almost sixty-three million dollars, up some 42% from revenues of close to forty-four and a half million dollars generated in the comparable quarter last year. This growth was due to a combination of organic sales growth and acquisitions.
Net income also grew to a record $4.7 million, representing an increase of 16% over net income last year.
Like many companies, Balchem’s raw material costs have been rising significantly over the last little while, and this has held back net income growth. Still, the company has managed (quite effectively) to keep a lid on costs, and pass on these higher expenses to customers. Going forward, Balchem expects double-digit growth in revenues and earnings.
I really like companies that are consistent growers, both operationally and on the stock market. In my experience, the consistent growers often generate more wealth over time than the high flyers. In today’s stock market environment, this is just what investors want to see.