A huge block sold today, pushing the intraday low to $14 1/8. I was encouraged by how quickly the bid/ask ramped back up (within minutes), so I think this was a year-end adjustment. Perhaps a mutual fund sold to offset profit or loss on another issue. Remember, this stock was at $8 7/8 at the beginning of the year, so it still was a healthy gain that could be used to offset many other tragedies that have happened in good stocks over the past several months. Just a guess, of course.
I've been saying for some time that FM is undervalued; that goes even more so now. IMO, FM will begin to inch back up soon, unless we're entering a bear market. I've been buying a little more everytime it drops below $15 and selling a little bit when it goes over $17.
According to First Call, there have been no revisions upwards or downwards from the $0.27 mean earnings estimate for next quarter; recommendation is 1.3 vs. 2.4 for the industry average (1.0 being the strongest buy); 1998 PE is 13.2 vs. 17.49 for the industry average; 1998 PEG is .66 vs. 1.17 for the industry average.
FM is still relatively unnoticed, with a float of only 26 million shares. They haven't been announcing the spectacular sales gains they had last year when they were struggling to rebuild from the food poisonings, so they've probably slipped back off the radar, IMO. However, FM will still undergo strong growth and continue to pay down its debt. We should get a typical run up sometime before the next earnings release on February 6th. Hang in there!
As always, do your own research,
D. Kuspa |
