Acme United Corp ACU

Ben Graham stocks (US)

[Torontojay]

I searched for American stocks that satisfy Ben Graham's stringent criteria for investing. It is getting harder and harder to find such a company but occasionally I get lucky. This year there are 2 companies that pass the test. There are a few that came close and may be considered a worthy investment if one wants additional diversification. This one came close but no cigar. 

Ben Graham criteria ( a Norm Rothery modification) 

1) price to earnings less 15
2) price to book less than 1.5
3) current ratio greater than 2
4) positive earnings in each of the last 5 years
5) eps growth of at least 3% over last 5 years
6) positive dividend growth over the last 5 years
7) revenue greater than $400 million
 

Acme united is a stock I used to own and it almost passed the test but is trading slightly above 1.5 times book value. It does not possess that sexiness that most investors gravitates towards but it often outperforms the market. Over the last 5 years the stock price has almost doubled not including dividends.