Tom, I don't know VSH's market share. In the passive component industry, so many different widgets are made, that market share #s would essentially be meaningless, because of the thousands of products that they make. Vishay offers cos. the broadest product line, and that's what makes them competitive against cos. like AVX and KMET, which are more specialized. For example, VSH this year added diodes to the components it manufactures and provides. Regarding the 5% stock dividend, Dr. Zandman at the annual meeting mentioned how strong the balance sheet was, and I got the impression that he is an old timer who thinks shareholders are most impressed when they receive more shares. In addition, what initially impressed me about VSH is that the co. made purchases of its stock not too long ago, the summer of 1996 I think it was, and the purchases were made at about $27 per share.
I welcome your NAIC stock selection info. when you get it done. The NAIC people love this stock, and in fact, I received a copy of the stocks to watch column from the NAIC book at the VSH annual meeting. |
