Miami Computer stock
sags
Laura A. Bischoff
DAYTON DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, April 7, 1999
Although Miami Computer Supply Corp.'s stock price has
tumbled 41 percent since January, stock analysts say the
company is on solid footing.
"They are doing all the right things and yet the stock
continues to sell off from about 40 percent of its
high," said
Elliott Schlang, an equities analyst with LJR Great
Lakes
Review. Schlang rates the stock as a strong buy and said
there is no operating reason for the slumping share
price.
Small capitalization stocks, such as Miami Computer,
have
been hurt as institutional stockholders, such as mutual
funds
and pension funds, shift their focus to large cap
stocks,
Schlang said. As a result, small caps' performance
deteriorates and shareholders bail out, he said.
Analyst David Childe, with Morgan Keegan & Co, agrees
that non-Internet related small cap stocks have fallen
out of
favor in recent years--a trend that is probably
affecting
Miami Computer.
Miami Computer's stock might have been hurt by a couple
of financial red flags last quarter that were
misinterpreted by
Wall Street, Childe said. He recommends a strong buy on
Miami Computer stock. "It's the cheapest it's been since
it
has gone public," Childe said.
Company officials could not be reached for comment
Tuesday.
Miami Computer is a Kettering-based computer equipment
distributor that has been buying up other suppliers at a
rapid
clip: 15 since the company went public in November 1996.
Nine of those purchases occurred in 1998.
Sales in 1998 rose 192 percent to $314 million compared
with $107 million in 1997, while earnings increased 186
percent to $6.3 million compared with $2.2 million in
1997.
Miami Computer employs 1,200 people, including a sales
force of 400, throughout the United States and Canada.
About 120 employees work in the Miami Valley.
Miami Computer (NASDAQ: MCSC) closed on Tuesday at
17 , down 9/16 . The stock's 52-week range is 13 11/16
to 29. |
