AMETEK (AME, Financial) (2.8%) (AME – $91.82 – NYSE) is a diversified supplier of highly engineered equipment used in a broad array of industrial end markets. The company offers a diverse product portfolio including test and measurement, metrology, and precision motion control equipment in addition to specialty materials and aftermarket services. Organic sales growth has remained strong thus far this year, up 4% year-over-year in the first half of 2019 and the company finished June with a near record backlog of $1.7 billion. After spending a total of $1.1 billion acquiring six businesses in 2018, AMETEK still had $567 million of cash and $1.5 billion of availability on its revolving credit facility as of June 2019 that it expects to deploy on additional acquisitions. The company has begun to target software and Internet of Things-based businesses that will allow AMETEK to leverage the vast amounts of measurement and instrumentation data that it collects for customers to provide more recurring, service-based offerings.
From Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio)'s Gabelli Asset Fund third-quarter 2019 commentary.
