Stock price when the opinion was issued
(A Top Pick Nov 11/14. Up 5.08%.) A global coatings company. They do architectural paint, coatings for airplanes, coatings for marine applications, etc. They are a leader in this space. About 45% of revenues are in North America, so currency has been a headwind. Also, have exposure in China and Europe through the auto space. Longer-term, auto sales, especially in China, is going to grow. A lot of input costs are crude oil based, so they should get a nice tailwind with lower raw material costs. Dividend yield of about 1.5%.
(A Top Pick April 14/15. Up 3.81%.) A global leading paint company. They do high performance coatings for airplanes, automotive coating and industrial coating as well as architectural painting. Very good acquisitors and have expanded their locations. Very well positioned and geographically diversified with leading positions in China, Europe and North America.
A global coatings company for houses, airplanes, cars and industrial applications. Their earnings numbers were guided down recently as they are divesting. They are also seeing continued weakness in Europe. She is sticking with it at present until earnings are announced. If you are going to buy wait for the earnings announcement.
Still likes it. They are buying a manufacturer in Mexico. Coatings company. Leveraged to housing, autos and they are geographically diverse in the US. Those markets are all improving. They are disciplined in terms of cost improvement. They are selling off non-core, mature businesses. As long as earnings keep growing, she is happy to be there.