No one said that investing should be exciting.
As a matter of fact, most of your investing portfolio should be pretty boring. That’s a good thing.
It means you have picked stocks that will grow without a lot of tending, so you can go on with the rest of your life and not be wedded to a screen like a professional trader.
You’re an investor, and with that in mind, I thought it was a good time to give you some rock-solid growers in “boring” industries.
You see, there’s plenty of growth outside the sexy sectors — biotech, tech, healthcare, telecom — but it isn’t very attractive fodder for financial writers.
Living proof are the seven A-rated yawn inducing stocks I feature here. None will set your heart racing, but who needs that in today’s bizarre-o market? These stocks deliver, quarter in and quarter out, without too much fanfare. Buy them and then go play golf or go back to work, or whatever. The point is, you won’t have to worry about them.
Boring Stocks to Buy: Air T, Inc. (AIRT)
Air T, Inc. (AIRT) does overnight air cargo, ground services support and also has an equipment sales division. The thing is, its overnight air cargo fleet is contracted by FedEx Corporation (FDX) and its ground services are used in almost every major airport in the country by all the major carriers, including: Southwest Airlines Co (LUV), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) and others. It sells equipment to the major airlines as well as the government and is the leading retailer of de-icing vehicles in the market.
The air cargo fleet makes up slightly more than half the revenue of AIRT and equipment sales makes up another third.
The point is, AIRT is in a great place, and not everyone can see this deep into the transport sector. That’s to our advantage. Revenue for its third quarter was up 100% from a year earlier. Air cargo revenue was up 44%.
Cheap fuel and growing online shopping (which means growing shipping) all have been working to keep airlines full and AIRT very busy.
Boring Stocks to Buy: Franklin Financial Network Inc (FSB)
Franklin Financial Network Inc (FSB) is a bank holding company. But don’t let that stop you from learning more about it. You see, it’s a small regional bank out of Franklin, TN. It started in 2007, just as the markets melted down, which is a good thing.
It wasn’t leveraged into any of the mess most banks were. Plus, because it was a small bank, it was more focused on the local economy rather than what was going on across the nation. It stuck to its knitting.
And it paid off.
What’s more, the thing you get with this bank that you don’t with other financial institutions is big growth, at least for the next few years.
In it recent Q1 filing in late April it announced that net income was up 100% over the same quarter in 2015. Total revenues were up 50%. Earnings were up 51%. You rarely see these kinds of numbers from regional banks, or financial institutions of any kind for that matter.
Boring Stocks to Buy: Health Insurance Innovations Inc (HIIQ)
Health Insurance Innovations Inc (HIIQ) is in another of those hidden spots in a major industry. It’s a healthcare insurance provider that works specifically on short-term policies for uninsured people that are waiting to get into an Affordable Care Act plan, but may have to wait up to nine months for open enrollment.
HIIQ works with the major insurers to develop plans that insurance brokers and agents use for their clients. Bear in mind, this isn’t just about individuals — it also affects small businesses that will have to cover employees at some level in the future.
A very recent ruling from Health and Human Services looking to curtail short-term, limited-duration insurance (at least beyond three months) has scared a lot of investors. This unsettling news happened just a month after HIIQ released its latest quarterly earnings that beat Street estimates by nearly 100% and revenue that was up 88%.
The reality right now is, it’s going to take a while for this to happen, if it ever does and with a new Congress and president in the fall, there’s no telling where it’s going. Get it now for cheap.
Boring Stocks to Buy: Installed Building Products Inc (IBP)
Installed Building Products Inc (IBP) stock is up more than 40% year to date. It is the No. 2 company in its sector with 125 locations in 48 states.
And its bread and butter? Insulation.
I’m guessing not many of you were thinking insulation. I’m also guessing few of you think about insulation that much at all, unless it’s really hot or really cold.
But energy efficiency is a big deal and even major utilities are subsidizing homeowners to upgrade their insulation in older homes, while new projects are also in a growth mode.
OK, so you have to tell people you own the country’s second largest installation installer. But you can also tell them that Q1 earnings were up 154% from the same quarter a year ago; revenue was up 47% and net income was up 320%. That’s pretty exciting.
Boring Stocks to Buy: Insperity Inc (NSP)
Insperity Inc (NSP) sounds like the love child of inspiration and prosperity. And while that may be true, the company operates in a sector many find less than either the former or the latter.
NSP is a human resources solutions company. If you have a business and don’t want to build an entire HR department, you can have NSP run your HR operation. If you’re looking for one or two people to work on a specific project or short-term operation, NSP has you covered there as well.
In the new “gig economy,” and the goal of businesses to outsource everything they can to keep costs down, NSP is a national leader in these trends in HR.
And the numbers bear this out. For Q1 (reported in early May), earnings were up 45%, and while its workforce grew by 15%, gross margins rose 15% and revenue grew 14%. That’s pretty impressive, especially from an HR firm.
Boring Stocks to Buy: Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (SMG)
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (SMG) is a consumer products company that every homeowner has either used or has seen in the hardware store.
Aside from the fertilizer and seed side of the business, it’s now moving into organics and live plants as well. SMG has had a solid, if unspectacular 2016 but some of that can be attributed to the unusually wet weather and a long cold snap that much of the East has experienced over the course of spring.
Now that things are drying out and heating up, sales should perk up in coming quarters. Aside from the Scotts and Miracle Gro brands, SMG also owns RoundUp, Ortho, Tom Cat, Hyponex as well as others.
The company has been around for 148 years at this point, so it’s very much a foundational stock that you can trust to be there come what may. It also throws off a respectable 2.7% dividend.
Boring Stocks to Buy: Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (TTS)
Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (TTS) was founded in 1985 and has since expanded to over 100 stores around the country.
While selling tile may not seem like a great growth business, the fact that the housing market had to rebound from a Financial Crisis crater means the upside is now gaining momentum.
As new buildings increase, commercial clients are looking for flooring, and individuals that are looking to upgrade their current living spaces are also starting to spend again for housing face lifts.
That means growth is pretty impressive right now. Comparable stores sales growth was 13% compared to the year-ago quarter. TTS saw 63% operating income growth and earnings per share growth of 85%.
These numbers won’t be sustainable long term, but it’s a signal that this stock has some momentum short term and a big future long term.
Louis Navellier is a renowned growth investor. He is the editor of five investing newsletters: Blue Chip Growth, Emerging Growth, Ultimate Growth, Family Trust and Platinum Growth. His most popular service, Blue Chip Growth, has a track record of beating the market 3:1 over the last 14 years. He uses a combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify market-beating stocks. Mr. Navellier has made his proven formula accessible to investors via his free, online stock rating tool, PortfolioGrader.com. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.
