Barry SchwartzKorn/Ferry InternationalKFYPAST TOP PICKMar 01, 2017

This is executive recruiting for higher paying jobs. The thesis is that as the economy improves, people will be looking for better paying jobs. The knock on the company is that they made an acquisition a couple of years ago of a company that was more in the consulting business, and the margins were not there until the last couple of quarters. In the last quarter, there was 10% organic sales growth. Valuation is extremely cheap. This is going to benefit from tax reform and an improving US economy. Dividend yield of 1%. (Analysts' price target is $49.)

One of the premier international headhunting firms. Firms like LinkedIn and other websites have cannibalized the hiring market, but mostly on the lower end. For people like COO’s, CEO’s, CFO’s etc., that is where companies like this make their money.

In 2016, the stock dropped to $19. He thought the market had mispriced the stock. At the time, they had a huge amount of cash on the balance sheet. They used it to acquire Hay Group and diversify their business into pension benefits. Still thinks this has a lot of wind in its sales. Valuation is still quite cheap. He is very excited about this company and its future.

This is in executive recruiting in the US for $150,000 type jobs and higher. They get a 30% cut. This is the market leader with great relationships and a network of customers. Just made a very smart acquisition of Hay Group, which is mostly in H&R that has a lot more annuity style revenue, selling information to improve company’s operations. Extremely cheap valuation. Insiders own a lot of stock. Trading at 10X earnings. Dividend yield of 1.43%.