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djbtudobem (40.50)

Should I leave MFRI for greener pastures/piping systems?

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October 01, 2009 – Comments (6) | RELATED TICKERS: MFRI , AAON , MWA

I'm putting together my porfolio for real life, and I just can't find any reason to leave out a delightfully delectable micro-cap by the name of MFRI, Inc. (ticker: MFRI).

Now, my gut (and most Fools) tell me to be wary of any stock with a market cap less than 200M. But this isn't any micro-cap. The company is established, the management is experienced, the fundamentals look solid, the industry (piping, filtration, heating/cooling) isn't going away, and record earnings have been rolling in.

The problem: I lean very heavily on the CAPS community to plug the holes in my research (I'm still learning a lot) and no one has selected or commented on MFRI since 2008. In fact, CAPS won't let me pick it either. I suspect this is simply a glitch, but it still means I'm lacking a year's worth of collaberative discussion on the stock.

Anyone know a little more? I feel pretty confident about MFRI, but maybe I should look into a more analyzed pick in a similar industry, like AAON or Mueller Water Products (MWA).

If you've got an opinion, leave a comment!

6 Comments – Post Your Own

#1) On October 01, 2009 at 6:23 PM, Teacherman1 (95.08) wrote:

CAPS won't let you pick it because its market cap is under 100M. That is sometimes a problem with real life investing and making picks. This has happened to me. If I feel it is a good investment, I go ahead in real life, then when the market cap gets up to the 100M level, i make it a pick. I have not looked at this stock before, but will do so this weekend when I have time and post on it.

In the meantime, maybe some one else knows something about it and will post.

Good luck on your picks, especially the real life ones.

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#2) On October 02, 2009 at 11:23 AM, SecretCzar (98.14) wrote:

I hold 1,000 real shares and I am debating an additional purchase. I am in the same boat as you (re such limited comments on the firm any time recently). Sometimes, after you study all of the fundamentals, etc. - you just have to go with your gut. This probably didn't help much but at least you know you are not the only one looking at this company.

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#3) On October 03, 2009 at 12:04 PM, scrubdog2 (< 20) wrote:

I hold 1500 shares. It looks like a very solid small cap stock with good financial statistics. It also looks seriously undervalued compared to what else is out there.  Value has been creeping up on small volume over the past year.

Could have taken some profit before this recent pullback, but the likelihood of continued earnings makes this one to hold on to for the longer term.

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#4) On October 03, 2009 at 12:29 PM, topsecret09 (28.68) wrote:

 If you ask me It looks like your holding a WINNER. Stock has no analysts following It that I can find,which can be a good thing,especially If you have a solid,underfollowed company like this one seems to be. Earning $1.46 per share the last 6 months Is Incredible In this economy. This stock will get noticed sooner or later,In the mean time you can buy shares at roughly $5.00 UNDER book value. Just to put It In context,Investors are willing to pay $16.00 per share for GE,with a consensus estimate of 97 cents for the ENTIRE YEAR.... Not In a GLAMOUR Industry,seems undervalued and underfollowed.... thanks for the heads up,I will buy shares on Monday  TS

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#5) On October 06, 2009 at 2:29 PM, djbtudobem (40.50) wrote:

Thanks for the comments everyone!

It really felt like a solid pick to me, but it's still easier to trust your gut when you think you've got some brains behind it.

Would be awesome if this helped you all in some small way, too!

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#6) On October 12, 2009 at 1:27 PM, scrubdog2 (< 20) wrote:

If it makes you feel any better, S&P (October 2009) reports that mutual fund holdings have increased 45% since the last reporting period, and other institutional investor holdings have increased over 5%.

The trend of institutional buying continues since I started buying this stock in June 2009.

Looks like I just missed an opportunity to buy on a nice pullback. I had thought it might drop closer to my first purchase price.  No such luck.

 

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