Guru John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio) got into investing in middle school. When Rogers was just 12 years old, his father began to purchase securities for his son's Christmas and birthday presents. This is when Rogers began to gain an interest in reading about the stock market. Rogers attended Princeton University where he majored in economics, and he continued his ambitious approach to learning after his graduation.
Rogers began working as a stockbroker shortly after his graduation at William Blair & Co. before he founded Ariel Investments in 1983. Ariel Investments began as a small and mid-cap value manager, and evolved strategically looking for companies that have attractive intrinsic value through extensive research. Ariel Investments currently has 88 employees with $10 billion in assets under management.
In the first quarter of 2016, Rogers increased his stake in Anixter International Inc. (AXE, Financial).
On March 29, Third Avenue Management (Trades, Portfolio) commented on Anixter International:
"Anixter is a value-added distributor of data cables, security products, as well as low-voltage and high voltage electrical wires. It sells some 500,000 different SKUs sourced from thousands of manufacturers. Manufacturers rely on Anixter to reach target customers and the customers depend on Anixter to evaluate and test appropriate products for their particular needs. In a very general sense, Anixter’s business model is similar to that of a broker, earning a relatively stable gross margin, without assuming inventory or obsolescence risks. Since most product costs are passed through, gross profit serves as a revenue base to cover the operational expenses such as the company’s 230 warehouses and some 3,000 person salesforce."
Anixter International has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22, an enterprise value of $3.16 billion, a P/B ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.34.
Below is a Peter Lynch chart for Anixter International Inc.
Anixter International has a 5/10 financial strength rating with a cash to debt ratio of 0.09 according to GuruFocus. The company also has a profitability and growth rating of 5/10 with an ROA of 3.48%, which ranks it higher than 60% of the companies in the industry. The company also has one good sign according to GuruFocus. The company’s P/E ratio is currently 13.74, which is close to the three-year low of 13.65.
There are two more signs that may have influenced Rogers decision to add 96,283 shares of the company to his portfolio. Anixter International's book value has grown at an average rate of 7% over the previous 10 years, and the company is currently trading below its intrinsic value.
Cheers to your investment success.
Disclosure: Author does not own any shares of this stock.
