The following are the top rated Basic Materials stocks according to Validea's Small-Cap Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Motley Fool. This strategy looks for small cap growth stocks with solid fundamentals and strong price performance.
MERCER INTERNATIONAL INC. (MERC) is a small-cap value stock in the Paper & Paper Products industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool is 79% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Mercer International Inc. is a global forest products company. The Company operates through two segments: Pulp and Wood Products. Its Pulp segment consists of the manufacture, sale and distribution of pulp, electricity and other byproducts at its pulp mills. Its pulp mills include Rosenthal mill, Stendal mill, Celgar mill, and Peace River mill. Its Wood Products segment consists of the manufacture, sale and distribution of lumber, electricity and other wood residuals at the Friesau mill. It owns and operates four pulp manufacturing facilities, two in Canada and two in Germany, has a 50% joint venture interest in a northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp mill in Canada and owns and operates one sawmill in Germany. The Company operates two NBSK mills in Eastern Germany and one NBSK mill and a swing kraft mill in Western Canada, which produces both NBSK and northern bleached hardwood kraft (NBHK). It also produces and sell tall oil, a by-product of its production process.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| PROFIT MARGIN: | PASS |
| RELATIVE STRENGTH: | PASS |
| COMPARE SALES AND EPS GROWTH TO THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR: | PASS |
| INSIDER HOLDINGS: | PASS |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| PROFIT MARGIN CONSISTENCY: | FAIL |
| R&D AS A PERCENTAGE OF SALES: | NEUTRAL |
| CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: | PASS |
| INVENTORY TO SALES: | PASS |
| ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE TO SALES: | PASS |
| LONG TERM DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: | FAIL |
| "THE FOOL RATIO" (P/E TO GROWTH): | PASS |
| AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| SALES: | FAIL |
| DAILY DOLLAR VOLUME: | PASS |
| PRICE: | PASS |
| INCOME TAX PERCENTAGE: | FAIL |
Detailed Analysis of MERCER INTERNATIONAL INC.
ENCORE WIRE CORPORATION (WIRE) is a mid-cap value stock in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool is 79% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Encore Wire Corporation is a manufacturer of electrical building wire and cable. The Company is a supplier of building wire for interior electrical wiring in commercial and industrial buildings, homes, apartments, manufactured housing, and data centers. The Company offers an electrical building wire product line that consists primarily of NM-B cable, UF-B cable, THHN/THWN-2, XHHW-2, USE-2, RHH/RHW-2 and other types of wire products, including service entrance unarmored (SEU), service entrance cable (SER), Photovoltaic, underground residential distribution wire (URD), tray cable, metal-clad and armored cable. The Company serves various markets, such as healthcare, data center, airport expansion, military bases, oil and gas, transit, wastewater treatment, school construction, and power generation. The Company markets its products throughout the United States primarily through independent manufacturers, representatives, and through its own direct in-house marketing.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| PROFIT MARGIN: | PASS |
| RELATIVE STRENGTH: | PASS |
| COMPARE SALES AND EPS GROWTH TO THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR: | FAIL |
| INSIDER HOLDINGS: | FAIL |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| PROFIT MARGIN CONSISTENCY: | PASS |
| R&D AS A PERCENTAGE OF SALES: | NEUTRAL |
| CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: | PASS |
| INVENTORY TO SALES: | PASS |
| ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE TO SALES: | PASS |
| LONG TERM DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: | PASS |
| "THE FOOL RATIO" (P/E TO GROWTH): | PASS |
| AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| SALES: | FAIL |
| DAILY DOLLAR VOLUME: | FAIL |
| PRICE: | PASS |
| INCOME TAX PERCENTAGE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of ENCORE WIRE CORPORATION
MUELLER INDUSTRIES, INC. (MLI) is a mid-cap value stock in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool is 76% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Mueller Industries, Inc. is a manufacturer of copper, brass, aluminum and plastic products. The Company manufacture a range of products, including copper tube and fittings; line sets; PEX plastic tube and fittings; steel nipples; brass rod, bar, and shapes; aluminum and brass forgings; aluminum impact extrusions; compressed gas valves; refrigeration valves and fittings; pressure vessels; coaxial heat exchangers; and insulated flexible duct systems. It operates in the United States and in Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, South Korea, the Middle East and China. It has three segments. The Piping Systems segment is composed of Domestic Piping Systems Group, Great Lakes Copper, Heatlink Group, European Operations, Trading Group, Jungwoo-Mueller and Mueller Middle East. The Industrial Metals segment is composed of Brass Rod, Impacts & Micro Gauge and Brass Value-Added Products. The Climate segment is composed of Refrigeration Products, Westermeyer, Turbotec, Flex Duct and Linesets, Inc.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| PROFIT MARGIN: | PASS |
| RELATIVE STRENGTH: | PASS |
| COMPARE SALES AND EPS GROWTH TO THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR: | FAIL |
| INSIDER HOLDINGS: | FAIL |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| PROFIT MARGIN CONSISTENCY: | PASS |
| R&D AS A PERCENTAGE OF SALES: | NEUTRAL |
| CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: | FAIL |
| INVENTORY TO SALES: | PASS |
| ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE TO SALES: | PASS |
| LONG TERM DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: | PASS |
| "THE FOOL RATIO" (P/E TO GROWTH): | PASS |
| AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| SALES: | FAIL |
| DAILY DOLLAR VOLUME: | PASS |
| PRICE: | PASS |
| INCOME TAX PERCENTAGE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of MUELLER INDUSTRIES, INC.
MOSAIC CO (MOS) is a large-cap value stock in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool is 75% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: The Mosaic Company is a producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its segments include Phosphates, Potash and Mosaic Fertilizantes. The Phosphates business segment owns and operates mines and production facilities in Florida, which produces concentrated phosphate crop nutrients and phosphate-based animal feed ingredients and processing plants in Louisiana, which produces concentrated phosphate crop nutrients. The Potash business segment owns and operates potash mines and production facilities in Canada and the United States, which produces potash-based crop nutrients, animal feed ingredients and industrial products. The Mosaic Fertilizantes business segment includes five Brazilian phosphate rock mines, four phosphate chemical plants and a potash mine in Brazil. It also includes its distribution business in South America, which consists of sales offices, crop nutrient blending and bagging facilities, port terminals and warehouses in Brazil and Paraguay.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| PROFIT MARGIN: | PASS |
| RELATIVE STRENGTH: | PASS |
| COMPARE SALES AND EPS GROWTH TO THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR: | PASS |
| INSIDER HOLDINGS: | FAIL |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| PROFIT MARGIN CONSISTENCY: | PASS |
| R&D AS A PERCENTAGE OF SALES: | NEUTRAL |
| CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: | PASS |
| INVENTORY TO SALES: | PASS |
| ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE TO SALES: | PASS |
| LONG TERM DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: | FAIL |
| "THE FOOL RATIO" (P/E TO GROWTH): | PASS |
| AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| SALES: | FAIL |
| DAILY DOLLAR VOLUME: | FAIL |
| PRICE: | PASS |
| INCOME TAX PERCENTAGE: | FAIL |
Detailed Analysis of MOSAIC CO
ALCOA CORP (AA) is a mid-cap value stock in the Metal Mining industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool is 72% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Alcoa Corporation is a trading company. The Company is engaged in the production of bauxite, alumina and aluminum products. The Company's operations consist of three reportable business segments: Bauxite, Alumina, and Aluminum. The Bauxite and Alumina segments primarily consist of a series of affiliated operating entities held in Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC), which is a joint venture between Alcoa Corporation and Alumina Limited. The Aluminum segment consists of the Company's aluminum smelting, casting, and rolling businesses, along with the energy production business. Its Bauxite segment consists of the Company's global bauxite mining operations. The Company's Alumina segment consists of the Company's worldwide refining system, which processes bauxite into alumina. The Aluminum segment consists of its worldwide smelting and cast house system, a portfolio of energy assets in Brazil, Canada, and the United States. It has over 28 operating locations across nine countries.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| PROFIT MARGIN: | PASS |
| RELATIVE STRENGTH: | PASS |
| COMPARE SALES AND EPS GROWTH TO THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR: | PASS |
| INSIDER HOLDINGS: | FAIL |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| PROFIT MARGIN CONSISTENCY: | PASS |
| R&D AS A PERCENTAGE OF SALES: | NEUTRAL |
| CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: | PASS |
| INVENTORY TO SALES: | PASS |
| ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE TO SALES: | PASS |
| LONG TERM DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: | FAIL |
| "THE FOOL RATIO" (P/E TO GROWTH): | FAIL |
| AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| SALES: | FAIL |
| DAILY DOLLAR VOLUME: | FAIL |
| PRICE: | PASS |
| INCOME TAX PERCENTAGE: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of ALCOA CORP
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