I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the worse my vision is becoming. I hate wearing contacts, and when I play sports I don’t like to wear my glasses. In fact, I only wear them when I play golf so I can watch as my ball sails down the fairway (even though I lose sight of it after about 200 yards).
Many of my friends have had lasik surgery and swear by it. Am I ready to go under the laser? I’m not so sure. But one thing I am ready to do, is buy LCA-Vision, Inc. (LCAV) the leading maker of laser technology that corrects nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.
Setting My Sights on a Rebound
LCA-Vision, Inc. not only provides fixed-site laser vision equipment and technology for performing laser vision correction, LCAV owns and operates 74 LasikPlus vision centers in 33 states. LCAV’s centers are supported primarily by independent ophthalmologists and optometrists, as well as a host of other health care professionals.
Even though laser eye surgery was down 15% to 20% in Q1 and analysts expect volumes to fall further, aging baby boomers who can afford the $3K to $6K procedure costs make laser vision correction an interesting growth opportunity for long-term investors to look at right now (I also think aging baby boomers will help boost the stock price of Walgreens–to see why, you’ll want to read, “Walgreen Co. (WAG): A Healthy Outlook.”) Shares trade for just 44% of sales and about 1.35 times their book value. Overall, the company is financially healthy with about $40 million in cash net of debt.
Hindsight is 20/20
At $6.98 per share, LCAV shares are well off their 52-week high of $50.69 (yet another casualty of weak consumer spending.) True, housing prices may need to stop falling and gas prices to stop rising before things to turn around in the industry. But when they do, LCAV investors will be seeing green!
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