How the publicly traded firms fared in the second quarter

By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 8/1/1998

Newton, Mass.--Publicly traded distribution stocks suffered a rough ride in the second quarter. Unlike the first quarter, when 10 firms saw their stock price appreciate, only four showed growth in the second quarter. Ten stocks declined.

Most of the problems were with uncertainties in Asia. JLK Direct Distribution and Applied Industrial Technologies started the ball rolling in early June when they announced they would not meet analysts expectations.

"For distributors struggling now, it just doesn't look like it will get better any time soon," says Barbara Cohen, an analyst with Schroders. "Asia is still persisting as an issue, and we see some positive signs that the economy is still doing well, but we also see signs offsetting that."

Fastenal, Inc. (up 14.3 percent), Kaman Industrial Technologies (12.5 percent), and Noland Co. (10 percent) were the only firms with double-digit gains in the quarter. MSC Industrial Supply gained 4.6 percent. But even Fastenal, which owes most of its gain to the positive reaction following its first quarter results in April, dipped about 13 percent in June.

MSC and W.W. Grainger both had two-for-one stock splits during the quarter, and positive research reports were released on IDG, Pentacon, and MSC.

"It was a rough quarter," says Cohen. "For good growth companies like Fastenal it was a tough quarter, as well as for not-so-good growth companies like Applied Industrial. We've lowered our estimates on both of those companies, although for Fastenal we do not at all lower our enthusiasm for the growth of the company."

HOW THE PUBLIC COMPANIES FARED IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF '98

Company Close on 4/3 Close on 6/25 $ Difference % Change

GAINERS...

Fastenal, Inc. 41 3/4 47 3/4 +$6 +14.3%

Kaman Industrial Technologies 16 3/8 18 7/16 +2 1/16 +12.5%

Noland Co 23 5/8 26 +$2.38 +10%

MSC Industrial Supply Co.* 53 1/2 28 +$2.50 +4.6%

LOSERS...

W.W. Grainger* 104 5/8 49 1/2 $5.62 5.3%

Lawson Products, Inc. 28 1/4 26 1/8 $2.13 7.5%

Vallen Corp. 20 1/2 18 15/16 $1.57 7.6%

DXP Enterprises (Sepco) 5 1/4 4 5/8 $0.63 12%

Airgas 17 1/2 14 7/16 $3.07 17.5%

Pentacon 13 1/2 11 $2.5 18.5%

Barnes Group (Bowman Dist) 33 1/2 27 1/4 $6.25 18.6%

Industrial Distribution Group 18 3/4 15 1/8 $3.63 19.3%

Strategic Distribution, Inc. 6 1/2 5 1/16 $1.44 22.1%

Applied Industrial Technologies 27 1/4 20 15/16 $6.32 23.1%

*Denotes Stock Split

Talkback

We would love your feedback!

Post a comment

» VIEW ALL TALKBACK THREADS

Related Content

• Topics
• Author

Related Content

 

By This Author

• Talk Amongst Youselves
• Prophet 21 acquires DISC
• Clark resigns as Grainger realigns
• Trade fair highlights IDCO meeting
• MEP funding facing deep cuts
• » MORE

Sponsored Links