by Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe | January 21, 2013 1:45 am
John Mauldin[1] launched a newsletter last year called Yield Shark[2], a bit of a departure from his frequent “big picture” musings about the economy and trends and the “end game” of government fiscal crisis …
… so now he has folks recommending specific stocks that they think will benefit from the end game and provide growing income to investors.
Here’s how they pitch it in this recent ad:
“Behind every dark cloud is a silver[3] lining. While Washington has done absolutely nothing to address the endgame, there’s no sense sitting around and sulking about it. We here at Mauldin Economics[4] believe there’s a silver lining for investors to what Congress did agree to…
“And that there’s an opportunity to take advantage of their pork-barrel spending. As a result, we’ve identified a slew of investments that should ultimately translate into a triple dose of cash for investors from:
(1) A lower dividend tax rate;
(2) A rising steam of dividend income; and…
(3) Potential capital gains from higher stock prices.”
Well, it’s a holiday here so we’re not going to go into a “slew” of investments … but we thought you might be laying around the house, bored and looking for something to research, so we thought we should at least ID their first pick for you to get you started. If there’s interest in these kinds of investments we can set the Thinkolator to work on the other “fiscal cliff winners” that they tease when everyone’s back at work at Gumshoe HQ.
So what is the first ‘Fiscal Cliff Winner?” Here are the clues:
“Fiscal Cliff Winner #1:
“A 3.1% Dividend From a Tax-Favored Company
“The $165 million of free government money included in the fiscal-cliff deal designed to help the railways is going to free up capital that would have been spent on maintenance to purchasing more rolling stock of railroad cars.
“And boy, does the railroad industry need more cars. Shipments of petroleum on US railroads rose more than 46% in 2012, as shale oil[5] producers put record amounts of crude on trains to overcome pipeline capacity constraints.
“According to the Association of American Railroads, petroleum shipments reached 540,000 carloads in 2012, up from 370,000 carloads in 2011.
“That big increase is from the booming US shale-oil boom, and the opposition to the construction of new pipelines, such as the Keystone Pipeline, has created a shortage of tankers.
“One company set to cash in is a leading manufacturer of tanker and hopper railcars. Manufacturing more than eight different types of railway cars, the company is a leading provider of tanks and freight containers to the railroad industry.”
That’s a story that we’ve heard before, so it piqued my interest a bit — some of the good news lately from Warren Buffett[6]’s Berkshire Hathaway has been due to the increased shipment of oil by rail (Berkshire owns the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad), and rail has been a hot investment topic for a few years now … not always going up, of course, but very much tied to the various commodity booms and busts that we’ve seen (coal[7] and agricultural commodities move by rail, too, as do others … including more oil now that the mid-continent discoveries have inconveniently not all matched up with the existing pipeline system very well).
So which player specifically is being pitched here? A few more clues:
“Revenues jumped to $168.2 million, a 37% increase from the $125.8 million for the third quarter of 2011;
Earnings per share rose to $0.66, a new all-time quarterly record;“Orders continue to pour in with the order backlog growing by 7,630 railcars. The company sold 1,460 railcars last quarter, so that backlog is about 1.34 years’ of business on the books… and new orders continue to pour in.
“The company’s share price is cheap: it trades at only 10 times earnings and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.25 a share, giving it a dividend yield of roughly 3%.
“One of our country’s largest and savviest investors owns a chunk of the company and is the majority shareholder.
“The company’s share price is very near an excellent buying opportunity. We’re near ready to issue a buy on it. Given the company’s 3.1% dividend… its price-to-earnings ratio… the clout the company’s major shareholder has… and the chart pattern forming in the company’s share price…
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So what have we got here? This is, according to the quick cycling of the Mighty Mighty Thinkolator, American Railcar Industries (ARII)[8].
Which is indeed controlled by one of the more closely followed “whale” investors — it looks like Carl Icahn[9] owns more than half of the company. He has also been trying to make the company larger, bidding for competitor Greenbrier (GBX) and owning up to 10% of that company before getting snubbed recently. That bid-up and snub doesn’t mean that ARII and GBX won’t end up making sweet, sweet music together at some point, but it looks like the Greenbrier folks were well aware that they’re at a good spot in their business cycle and they’re holding out for a better bid. GBX, for what it’s worth, is now significantly cheaper than ARII on a trailing earnings basis, though both companies trade for about ten times next year’s forecasted earnings so neither appears particularly expensive.
ARII’s quarterly numbers match the tease perfectly, and the stock has been rising nicely in recent months but does have a history of growing in fits and starts, with some weak quarters bringing substantial downdrafts for the stock from time to time. I don’t know the company well, but that makes some intuitive sense for a company that manufactures capital goods and probably has uneven order flow — if they’re going to be running flat out to satisfy tanker demand for oil trains then perhaps things will be steadier for a while, but from their past history you’d have to expect that there should be buying opportunities on dips from time to time.
They do pay a dividend of a quarter per quarter, though that just started after several years of not paying a dividend at all so they don’t particularly have a dividend growth history to give investors confidence. The shares are up since this tease was written, so that’s slightly under a 3% yield now.
There are other companies in this space — including Berkshire Hathaway itself, since they own Union Tank Car, one of the major owners and lessors of tank tars, thanks to their takeover of Marmon a couple years ago. The publicly traded stocks that are focused on rail cars also include Trinity (TRN) and Freightcar America (RAIL), though there are many different kinds of rail cars and from what I can tell ARII is the closest to being a publicly traded “pure play” on tankers and hoppers, specialized cars for bulk commodities. The shipping of oil by rail is not a new thing — though more ethanol[10] and refined products have been shipped in the past, I expect (ethanol can’t use conventional pipelines) — and there are plenty of technologies and designs in wide use by all of the manufacturing companies in the sector, so I don’t know if anyone has a particular edge. Trinity just bought a manufacturing plant to expand production (it will be converting from manufacturing wind turbines, interestingly enough), for example.
Greenbrier does seem to be the most similar company to ARII, and it does make sense that the two companies would be better and more efficient together, so there may well be some future offer engineered by Icahn or y the big investment banks who are sniffing around the sector. Who knows, maybe Greenbrier will turn around and go after ARII — Icahn’s control of ARII is the wild card, since that means they can swing on a dime if his opinion changes.
I haven’t studied the backlog or the prospects of any of these companies in any detail, but just a quick look at the financials has me more comfortable with American Railcar than with GBX — ARII has substantially higher profit margins and has a much better balance sheet, with about half as much debt, though both are of similar size if you go by enterprise value and GBX is a bit cheaper now that they’ve come down from their proposed-takeover high. Both have similar growth expectations and are very reasonable values if the growth that analysts expect comes through.
So there you go … have a Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and think on those railcars for a bit if you’re so inclined. I find the sector and the idea interesting, though I already have some exposure to it through a substantial holding in Berkshire Hathaway so I don’t yet know if I’ll want to increase that exposure. Feel free to share your thoughts about Mauldin’s railcars and profit potential with a comment below.
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Thanks to Obama and his great EPA department the train is more efficient than the pipeline and another estimated $5 to $10 more a barrel for the US consumer.
Warren Buffet and Obama struck a deal ……..Warren Buffet agreed to come out with …….”we all need to pay more taxes” while he is still fighting the IRS over some tax issues. Obama turned down the Keystone Pipeline , and Warren gets to ship his oil via his freight trains reaping a financial fortune while the rest of us taxpayers take it in the shorts.
So far as I know, Obama only postponed approval of the northern half of the pipeline at the very request of the republican governor(s) of states like Nebraska who asked for certain routes in sensitive areas to be reconsidered and rerouted. Stop blaming Obama for merely doing with the republicans asked him to do. And soon enough the northern half will get redrawn and approved.
And what did the people ask him to do? Stop blaming anyone other than Obama for Obama’s choices. This isn’t a political forum, don’t slip us a wiennie.
I agree 100%! This forum is not for politics, right Travis?
Actually, business and politics are becoming more and more closely aligned.
not at the request of the Republican Governor; Buffet has Obama’s direct ear and that of Democrat Senator Ben Nelson.
The part of government calling the shots and those who support them are both stupid and greedy. They should ALL go away. And Obama is either a bumbling moron, or totally corrupt. Take your pick. But then, so is everyone else in office. Anyone that sports a $3000 suit, has millions in their personal bank account, and shouts that everyone needs to “pay their fair share” needs to be removed from the country. It’s a childish mentality that is killing our country by crushing the economy. Blame anyone you want, the facts are the same: the economic problems now, are definitely not any better than they were 4 years ago.
If you consider that Obama is a moron, yet he was able to become president, what does that make you? Or have you not sought public office?
Well, I hard on on the Internet that it is, and the Internet doesn’t lie. Right?
“the facts are the same: the economic problems now, are definitely not any better than they were 4 years ago…” REALLY??? What economic reports have you been reading that support that conclusion? What are the relative unemployment rates between now and 4 years ago, and which way are they heading? Where was the stock market 4 years ago, relative to today? What is happening in American manufacturing, relative to 4 years ago? I s’pose data like this doesn’t fit your supposition; hence let’s just disregard it.
Some more partisan bs. Maybe you can get the news from someone other than Faux Noose.
The fact is that Obama did not turn down the Keystone, the decision is still
pending, and that the Administration actually approved the pipeline before
the Republican Governor of Kansas raised objections to its siting over a
major water supply for Midwest farming. Besides that, the haters at Fox
invented the supposed deal with Buffet, while the lack of any
evidence doesn’t bother them or you.
Thanks Bob, well said. If people raise political issues and don’t tell the real story you can’t blame folks like me or Bob for trying to set the record straight.
Well perhaps not this claim, but a number of others show he has the POTUS in his Change Purse.
Perhaps you should watch Frontline. At the same time watch their show “The Warning” to see the past lives of POTUS advisers.
… And much of that extra $5-$10 will be burning oil!
In the parable of the master and servants, the futuristic end of the last servant is interesting. He is asked why he didn’t give the money to the money changers, so he would have increase upon his return. My question is this: Is this the end times bankers? Or, is this the currency traders? One of these are going to have enough increase to keep that guy from being thrown into outer darkness, you know the gnashing of teeth place.
Travis,
Are you sure you got the right newsletter? Yield Shark has not recommended this stock as yet.
Maybe it will be the next one and you are ahead of them, but I can assure you they haven’t yet rec’d that one.
I think that they teased this as an upcoming report, released tomorrow or Wednesday, but would have to double check.
We’ll see, I’m trying this letter and I’m disappointed so far.
Just checked, the ad says that their their special report with this and other “must own” picks is coming out tomorrow, the 22nd.
Once the Keystone Pipeline is functional what are they going to do with 100,000 excess railroad tankcars??? Sell them to the Chicoms as scrap iron???? Are we being hyped on RR stock to make it easier for Buffet to dump his?
I am thinking I would stay away from this industry right now. Rumor has it transports are at a major high, and railroad shipments just took a nasty dive. Last time this happened it turned into a bad economic slowdown. I would just be patient, chances are you will be able to buy a lot of great companies on the cheap in the next couple of years. Of course I am more than likely wrong, but when I start hearing the word “high” more often in the market it usually means a turnaround is not far ahead.
Obama borrows money from China. China takes the interest from the $Trillions and buys Canada’s Oil Giant Nexon with our tax dollars, Merry Christmas China from the USA tax payers. Canada ‘s Govt. did not want to sell but with no pipeline they can not export to USA . EPA scares public with pipeline and Governor has got green peace saying no pipeline when there state has many already. But Warrens Train with millions of gallons of oil going 50 MPH is much safer they never derail, what is easier to clean up? They will build pipeline soon Obama needed those tree hugger votes but that game is over. Now Warren will do another sleep over at the White House and Obama will start a new give a oil tank car foundation for Warren’s tax write off and Viktor is right, where will the tank car grave yard be. The whole time China thinks what can we buy now to keep devaluing the USA Dollar, they don’t care how much it costs it is free Obama printed money. Those that say politics has nothing to do with the market, I don’t want it to but there is no way around it. Buy A drug stock when the FDA says no, buy a mining , drilling , or an energy stock when the EPA will not give them a permit or take 7 years when other countries do it in 2 years like Canada or Australia or China does not care about the air. Buy any stock that is exported or imported and pretend the tariffs don’t affect there bottom line or ROI. Buy any stock and don’t think what Ben B. says about the interest rate or print some more money, you can watch the market move up or down on his every word. Is there a stock that the government has no affect on in any market, I would bash any politician left or right that does not at least have a budget because they do move the market so they should be able to count, they count real good with there insider trading, that is a huge problem. It is a real shame but the real market is in D.C. and all the lobbyist are in New York or Chicago etc. It would be nice to see Travis get a stock or an investment out of the Thinkolater that is or has no laws that guide it’s profits from any Government intervention a stock totally based on supply , demand , R&D, etc. and above all integrity, I do not think there will be many like that! But that are the cards we have to play with and the rules are not the same for everyone. That is why the Travis Mighty Thinkolater is worth taking all the drama out of tempting money back news letters, I think that the Thinkolater is an independent that we all depend on, or I know it has helped me from some long shots going nowhere and has pointed to a few that with some due diligence and others opinions have kept me in the green. You get what you pay for and more with the GUMSHOE, THANKS! Also the fact is Obama turned down the Keystone till after the election, wonder why?
Several newsletters have been promoting the Buffett meeting with Obama to set up a mutually beneficial “back room deal” but the point is the profits for burlington Northern are already baked in the cake. The potentially investable point is that their is a SECOND railroad off the radar that has a DUAL benefit, participating in hauling crude to various refineries and at the same time hauling “FRACC sand” (as high as 10,000 tons per well) out of Wisconsin and S. Eastern Minnesota. The railroad that is most likely to get the biggest boost from this dual trade is UNION PACIFIC, and to a lesser extent the 2 Canadian lines CN and CP.
Well it is my understanding that the pipe line is from Canada. Buffett is not shipping oil from Canada but from N.D. and other new oil find fields.(?) Some going east (?) Some going South(?). If you listen to Fox News you are listening to a propaganda channel and you need to keep the in mind.
The keystone pipe line will not hurt railroads hauling shale or canadien oil or hurt companies making tanker cars. A pipeline for the most part goes in one direction and usually ends at only point. Railcars can go in 360 directions on the map and end in countless places. What railcars haul into refineries can also haul the finished products out of refineries.
I just never knew that this was a right wing paper when I started reading it some time back. I mean who would have known. Oh well am a democrat and don’t really see what rail cars has to do with what any of us are.
If my info is right by the building of the Keystone pipe line want make all those rail cars unwanted junk.From what i am told by a person who has spent his life in oil the shale oil is in a lot of places that pipe lines want help. He says we are just playing around the edge of this trend. The oil co’s have run in to this stuff all over this country and up untill they got to the point of knowing how to get the oil out cheap enough to make it worth will they just walked away and let it lay. You got to remember when your drilling for oil you go after the easy stuff first. So I can’t say for sure any of the rail car builders is a good long term buy,but at the least they should make a few bucks short term any way.
Hey – Olivan – I don’t believe this is a right wing paper. It’s just that most of us democrats are smart enough to shy away from posting non-pertinent information.
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