Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
MVCO
Earnings of $.31/share for Q4 were better than I expected. With 5.1 million fully diluted shares and $12.85 stock price, shares looks cheap with approx. $6/share of stockholder equity, almost $5/share of cash, increasing backlog, increased construction bid bonding capacity, approx. $2.50/share of outstanding claims, and ability to earn well over $1/share going forward. I was glad to see the operations of RMX, 53% owned by MVCO, hold up well. MVCO held up well during the recent market volatility, and should do the same going forward.
Tmcal
Disclosure: I own a ton.
Can't PM, but hold a small 5,000 position.
Tmcal
Bloomberg news footer says: "Xstrata makes new offer to resolve labor dispute, workers say." Nickel futures are off about 5%,
Tmcal6
RNO-
The way Nickel mining stocks retreated early this week I was tempted to post a message that basically said, "Wait for Earnings" and then they should take off. With the RNO news, RNO's numbers should be great and I think we will also see dramatic reports from Bwr.to and Lim.to. Good luck all metalhead. The next few weeks should be interesting.
Tmcal6
Nuts-
Last night, on Bloomberg News, I saw a note at the bottom of the screen that Goldman and Deutche Bank recommended a double down for commodities. It did not say what that meant or which commodities. I also noticed that Nickel futures were up and at their highest levels I had seen. I was going to post this observation, then remembered that the last time I noticed the same thing a month ago, we had a selloff the next day. So you owe me one. LOL
Tmcal6
MVCO
I don't really expect to win this contest, especially with this pick. In 12 months it could be anywhere from 13 to over 20, depending on contract wins and arbitration/litigation wins or settlements. But I do expect it to be up for a decent return, almost no matter what happens in the market. It began the year 8 trading days ago at $10.18, and closed yesterday at $11.06, so up 8.6%, which is a move I wish I could count, just like many others on this board. That said, I think MVCO will have a good solid year and is a relatively safe choice for those interested in them
MVCO is a small construction company doing most things right to grow into a large company. The company was formed in 1994, is based in Phoenix, and operates almost exclusively in Arizona and Nevada. Highlights:
+ Currently 5 million shares OS and 36% Inst. ownership.
+ Had a record backlog of $100.7 million of construction as of 9/30, compared to $71.6 million on 6/30.
+ Recently completed a secondary offering (20% dilution) to increase working capital and Insurance Bonding Capacity, the lifeblood and constraint on growth for a construction company.
+ Has 3 divisions, when you count it's majority (53%) ownership of Ready Mix, Inc. (RMX) which is in the Construction Materials business.
+ Construction Services Division is the primary business, and the 3rd is a start-up and small Construction Materials Testing Division.
+ On 9/30, MVCO had $21.3 million of working capital, $27.4 million of Cash and Cash equivalents and $22.8 million of shareholder equity
+ Net Income after Minority Interest (which is the part of RMX that MVCO does not own) was $.20 in Q3 and $.59 for 9 months. This was down from last year.
+ Both Construction Services and RMX revenues were up 9% YOY in Q3
The big pluses going forward are:
1. Secondary offering permitted Insurance Bonding Capacity to increase 30% to $200 million.
2. Company has 2 large claims that could be resolved in the next 12 months that could result in up to $8.5 million for MVCO.
3. Favorable claims settlement and increasing net income should permit the company to avoid further dilution as Ins. Bonding Capacity is permitted to increase and the company can grow.
4. Company is still down from the 12 month high of $15.87 and has a PE much lower than the industry average.
5. I believe the value of the RMX equity is not reflected on the balance sheet because MVCO has majority ownership/control of RMX and brings it's majority share of income and expenses into it's own financial statements. The market cap of RMX is currently $43.2 million.
6. MVCO currently has $5.40/share of cash and over $4.50/share in the value of RMX capitalization. Add those together, and consider earnings potential of $1.00-$1.50/share, and this company is undervalued.
I hope this summary generates some understanding and interest in this stock. I think it is safe money with a strong upside potential, but unlikely to make the top 10 in this contest, but you never know.
Tmcal6
Len, I edited my post because I originally had TCLL. Did you receive it?
Tmcal
My pick for this contest is MVCO. I will have to post some DD this weekend. I have never known how to post links so I may have to learn. I don't expect to win this contest, but I really believe this stock is going to do well in 2007, no matter what happens in the rest of the market.
Tmcal6
Bloomberg News.
Current afterhours pricing for Copper and Nickel futures are up. Copper in 3 months is at 5,819, up 109, and Nickel is at 35,175 up 1,690. Spot prices are also up. Should be interesting tomorrow. If LME inventories are down again for Zinc and Nickel, we may be back on a downward trend for inventories now that the holidays are past.
Tmcal
Happy New Years to all VMCers. My returns don't match those of some others this year, but it was good by most standards and I appreciate everyone on this Board. I look forward to the new PSL and the new single one year pick, whatever it is named. Good luck to all in 2007.
R59, we will see if this post beats you and is close to just past midnight. LOL
Tmcal
Board History (Just to save folks from looking it up if they are curious):
1. The first post, #1 on this Board was by Designer at 10:32 p.m. on 12/29/04. The intent was to get the Board up and operating before the New Year.
2. The first post in calendar year 2005 (#374) was by Researcher59 at one second after Midnight, New Years Day.
3. The first post in calendar year 2006 (#31740) was by Researcher59 at 12 seconds after Midnight, New Years Day.
4. There were 31,366 posts in 2005. If we get to approx. post #62,000 by the New Year (about 600 more from now), the total posts for 2006 will be approx. 30,300, or a decline of about 3%. OK, how significant is that, Len?
5. Is someone going to be able to prevent R59 from a three-peat for being the first to post to the VMC Board in 2007? Stay tuned.
Merry Xmas and have a great final week in 2006.
Tmcal6
ZNCM
I don't know how much debt ZNCM had before the IPO or how much, if any, was transfered to UPG, but it sounds from the PR that ZNCM ended up with $6.4M of cash from selling 1 million shares, UPG ended up with $12.8M of cash from selling 2 million shares, and ZNCM held on to 2 million UPG shares, or a 40% non-controlling interest. With a current market cap of $17 million, it seems ZNCM could move higher, but future earnings will be hard to figure out. What used to be a relatively low PE stock has become more difficult to value.
Tmcal
SSK, Thanks, I finally won something, Most Benefited from the Consistency Ranking Formula. Mr. MBCRF. Can't say it is a great achievement, and it took manipulation of numbers to even dream it up, but thanks just the same. LOL
Kipp-
Wow, 200%, that must be close to a record. Is that for all of your Market investments,, or one account that you most actively manage? You must have been heavily concentrated in the metals and some of the other winners, and traded rather heavily some of the swings. I have not been that concentrated and probably have too many poor performers mixed into my strong performers. In any case, congrats, that is amazing.
I am generally happy if I can outperform the VMC Index rebalanced, but I can see where focus and concentration on the right sectors and stocks can pay huge dividends if you are right. Good luck through December and next year.
Tmcal
SSK
Sold it all shortly after I read the press release and saw "ethanol" and a possible SWAP of assets. Didn't wait for the later highs of the day (~4), but I was well above the close. Who knows where it will go from here, but I won't be looking in the rear-view mirror.
Tmcal
SSK
With that big number for VMC Rebalanced, I would guess that HCTL was still in it. What a day. Market started the day up, while I was starting down with 25K of CHID. All of a sudden, my portfolio value was positive and the positive number was increasing. Luckily, I found I was still holding 20K of HCTL and it made my day, along with 30% weighting in Gold and more common metals. Sometimes it helps to be lucky.
Tmcal
MVCO
Wow! 30,000 shares just traded at 10.50, $.17 above the ask. Someone must want some.
Tmcal
MVCO
Yinser, the $500 million of bidding refered to in the conf. call was just for contracts/jobs exceeding $20 million MVCO has a thriving business in the under $20 million category, but they needed the bonding capacity to go after more larger projects. As much as I hated the 20% dilution of the secondary, and it's pricing, the 33% increase in bonding capacity is critical for growth.
What interested me more about the conf call, and I may followup with a phone call to the CFO, is the two large claims that MVCO has outstanding, each of which could result in $0 to over $6 million to MVCO. I assume MVCO has already expensed the work, the claims are not receivables until they settle or win an award, and anything received could flow to the bottom line. I think MVCO is one of the most undervalued construction companies out there. They just need to get larger.
Tmcal
11/23/06, 7:20 am
NCNC
Got out yesterday. Now is the time to decide what stocks could get hit even more over the next 6 weeks for tax loss selling. I think some of the favorites on this board will fit the category, including HSOA and GACF. I hope to buy both at lower prices in December.
Tmcal
MVCO
Someone asked a question a few days ago on how MVCO accounts for the 2+ million shares of RMX it owns. MVCO treats RMX as a wholly owned susidiary for reporting purposes since it owns 53%. On the balance sheet, the line item "minority Interest" reflects the portion of the original proceeds of the IPO that went to RMX and the earnings of RMX that are associated with the shares of RMX that MVCO does not own. I believe that cash is kept separate and the shares are not valued at all.
Regarding the secondary offering today, I think the pricing and commission were a little off, but I think they really needed the cash for bonding/bidding purposes, otherwise, why do it. Frankly, I don't appreciate the 20% dilution unless it can result in a 50-100% stock price appreciation from increased business in the next 12 months.
Tmcal
EZM vote
I don't have a large position, under 20K, but I did not receive an opportunity to vote on the merger. Did anyone on this board get to vote, and if so how did you vote. I thought when first announced, there was dissatisfaction with the price and that something like 65% approval was required. Anyone have any comments?
Tmcal
MVCO
Nice move up on low volume. Current market cap equals the value of cash and 53% ownership of ReadyMix (RMX). Company could be a low float mover in a few weeks on what should be strong earnings and a growing backlog of business. Stock price is undervalued compared to other construction firms probably due to it's size. Company is my largest position by far.
Tmcal
Stan;;
There have been just over 100 posts deleted so far, if that is a good indication.
Tmcal6
Disappointing Day:
If my largest holding, MVCO, had not declined 2%, if I had sold before today PDGE and EZEN, and if I had not had a healthy percentage of my portfolio in resource stocks (O&G, O&G service, Gold and mining), I would have been even today or slightly up. Unfortunately, I ended down 1.5%. Still up double digits for the year, but getting closer to single digits.
Time to contemplate and reevaluate.
Tmcal
Housing/S&P chart
That chart was scary and it was a 15 year historical correlation chart with a 10 or 12 month lag for the S&P, and they alligned almost on top of each other. I saw it presented and discussed on Bloomberg News just before the open on Tuesday or Wednesday. Problem is, there are quite a number of correlations you can find like that, and history does not have to repeat itself. What was it the 10 years before the 15 years that were presented?
Tmcal
SKILLZ1
Curious about the VMC indices today. If they are down, how many days in a row is that and how much last week and this week. Thanks.
Tmcal
Mikes
Just saw on a Yahoo post that MVCO is expected to report before the open on Monday, 8/14.
What does the asterisk mean with the dates for your expected earnings? I looked for a note to explain, but missed it.
MVCO is my largest position, by far. I would love to see a low float push on this one, but that is hard to call and becoming rarer each day.
Tmcal
MVCO
Didn't notice any posts this a.m. on the MVCO news. MVCO will realize approx. $2.2 million of gains in the 3rd quarter due to finalization of an arbitration award in favor of MVCO. That is about $.48/share for Q3, in addition to about $.11/share that will be realized in Q2, which should be announced this week. Company should have strong earnings for Q2 and Q3 without the special items, and significant growth in backlog has already been documented with news realeases on contract awards. This company could really grow over the next year, especially if it decides to venture into the California highway construction market, which really is very similar and next door to the Nevada and Arizona primary markets it serves. Company is undervalued compared to other construction firms.
Tmcal
MVCO
From Yahoo message board, MVCO awarded $44 million Clark County contract. Added to $28 million 10 days ago, and backlog should now be well over $100 million.
Tmcal
Mike--DFC
Mike, I think you and I were the only "hangers on" to DFC. I have been gradually selling, sold 3000 yesterday at about 9.70, and almost sold more today. It moved up big time in the last hour, and then over 600,000 shares traded at the close. I still have not been able to confirm if my 3:58 p.m. limit order to sell some more at 10.10 was executed. Can't tell yet what is up.
Tmcal
DNO
Received my split shares through Schwab Wed. after the close. That may be because I had purchased them directly through Schwab's International desk.
Tmcal
Bobwins: MVCO
Speaking of asphalt plants, there are some interesting posts over on the Yahoo MVCO message board. In addition to the mention in the last conference call that they were apparent low bidder on $44 million Clark County, NV contract, last week they were apparent low bidder on 4 Arizona DOT contracts totalling $21 million. It usually takes 4-6 weeks for award of contracts after bid opening, so MVCO could announce wins that would double their backlog of $66 million last quarter. Since my post #44344 on 5/21, it has moved from $10.70 to Friday's close of $12.06 on light volume. I expect a new high of $16 within 9 weeks if these contracts get announced and a good quarterly earnings report could get this low float stock moving.
Tmcal
MVCO
I just wrote a long post on MVCO and it disappeared. Actually I thought I was editing my last one word post during the 15 minute edit period, but maybe I spent more thatn 15 minutes editing it. Anyway, MVCO is one of my PSL3 picks and my largest holding and I was surpised that MVCO was picked by only one other VMCer. Maybe I should not be surprised since I only expect a 30-50% gain during the contest, and most VMCers have picked stocks with higher growth expectations for the contest. Why do I like MVCO?
1. It is in a stable growth industry and operates in two high growth states, Arizona and Nevada.
2. It has $4.64 of stockholder equity including $4.06/share of cash.
3. It owns (53%) 2,025,000 shares of ReadyMix Inc., an aggregate/cement construction company that operates and is growing in the same area.
4. At current $15.23/share price of RMX, the RMX shares owned by MVCO are worth $6.88/diluted share of MVCO.
5. The cash and value of RMX shares equal $10.94/share, which is higher than the $10.70 closing price of MVCO.
6. While Q1 construction backlog declined a few million, the company expects to announce additional contract wins in the near future.
7. I think MVCO can earn $.20 to $.30 per share fully taxed each quarter going forward.
8. I expect topline and bottomline revenue growth to get this stock noticed and possibly become a low float mover.
Those are my reasons for liking this value microcap and I am sticking with them.
Tmcal
Bizzaro Market--
I actually still found myself adding to some of my largest positons today and reducing my cash position in the past week from 25% to only about 10%. In the last 6 days I am down 7% from my all-time high, but still up 23% for the year. My 2.1% loss today was mainly attributable to my two largest positions, MVCO and EZM, and I don't want to sell a single share of those positions. Matter of fact, if they drop further tomorrow, I may add again. Am I wild and crazy?
Tmcal
EZM
Added at 2.45, then 2.44, then 2.42, then 2.36, and finally at 2.32. Wish I had kept the powder dry and reloaded below 2.35. Tough to pick lows in this market. Still have more appetite for EZM and HBM
Tmcal
TVOC
I have owned a few thousand shares since @ 6.00 and doubled my position at 8.29 in 2 2,000 share trades, then the ask dropped to 8.05, so I bought another 2,000. You just never know where it will go. Hopefully over 10 sometime in the next month, or year, or decade.
Tmcal
Rogue, EZM, I hope the price of all oil, gas and minerals stabilize soon;, but like you, I don't think they will in dollar terms. The good news about EZM is that production should start to increase as hedges start to expire and reserves could continue to grow. Picture looks positive to me whether it earns 6 or 10 cents Canadian tomorrow.
Tmcal
EZM
I hope EZM falls back some on earnings because I will be buying more if it drops below $2.80 and loading the trailer if it drops to $2.60. I already have the truck loaded, but I want more. At current prices I like EZM better than TGB even though it has a slightly higher PE. The copper and zinc future for EZM is bright and I see the price between $5 and $6 before year-end. It is my second largest position now after MVCO, and they, together with SVL made today my best day of the year. I have been fully invested for over 3 years, but am currently 20% cash which gives me some dry powder to add more to EZM.
Tmcal