I have often owned companies with little to no sell-side analyst coverage.? Ask yourself this, how many companies trading on US exchanges are there:
- That have no analyst coverage
- That are US-based
- That have a Market Cap over $250 million
- That aren’t passthrough vehicles
- And have pitiful liquidity at least
I made the following list by using a Media General database, and cross-checking it with Yahoo Finance.? Yeah, I live on the cheap.? Here we go:
| Company | Industry | Ticker | Market Cap $M |
| Terra Nitrogen Company, L.P. | 0103 – Chemical Manufacturing | TNH | ??????????? 4,235 |
| Icahn Enterprises, L.P. | 0963 – Retail (Specialty Non-Apparel) | IEP | ?????????? ?4,065 |
| Valhi, Inc. | 0103 – Chemical Manufacturing | VHI | ??????????? 3,856 |
| Seaboard Corporation | 0515 – Food Processing | SEB | ??????????? 2,619 |
| EQT Midstream Partners LP | 1206 – Natural Gas Utilities | EQM | ??????????????? 908 |
| Contango Oil & Gas Company | 0609 – Oil & Gas Operations | MCF | ??????????????? 901 |
| Nortek Inc | 0406 – Appliances & Tools | NTK | ??????????????? 797 |
| Sabine Royalty Trust | 0609 – Oil & Gas Operations | SBR | ??????????????? 781 |
| Dorchester Minerals LP | 0609 – Oil & Gas Operations | DMLP | ??????????????? 695 |
| Rouse Properties Inc | 0933 – Real Estate Operations | RSE | ??????????????? 681 |
| Star Scientific, Inc. | 0524 – Tobacco | CIGX | ??????????????? 590 |
| NL Industries, Inc. | 0103 – Chemical Manufacturing | NL | ??????????????? 578 |
| 1st Source Corporation | 0727 – Regional Banks | SRCE | ??????????????? 547 |
| Apco Oil & Gas International I | 0609 – Oil & Gas Operations | APAGF | ??????????????? 546 |
| CorVel Corporation | 0806 – Healthcare Facilities | CRVL | ??????????????? 518 |
| National Western Life Insuranc | 0709 – Insurance (Life) | NWLI | ??????????????? 513 |
| Village Super Market, Inc. | 0957 – Retail (Grocery) | VLGEA | ??????????????? 468 |
| Atrion Corporation | 0812 – Medical Equipment & Supplies | ATRI | ??????????????? 416 |
| Presidential Life Corp | 0709 – Insurance (Life) | PLFE | ??????????????? 411 |
| PHI Inc. | 0612 – Oil Well Services & Equipment | PHII | ??????????????? 409 |
| Seneca Foods Corp | 0515 – Food Processing | SENEA | ??????????????? 324 |
| Lifevantage Corporation | 0809 – Major Drugs | LFVN | ??????????????? 306 |
| Preformed Line Products Compan | 0127 – Misc. Fabricated Products | PLPC | ??????????????? 300 |
| Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. | 0718 – Investment Services | WHG | ??????????????? 294 |
| Ladenburg Thalmann Financial S | 0718 – Investment Services | LTS | ??????????????? 287 |
| Camden National Corporation | 0727 – Regional Banks | CAC | ??????????? ????281 |
| Federal National Mortgage Asso | 0703 – Consumer Financial Services | FNMA | ??????????????? 278 |
| Fisher Communications, Inc. | 0906 – Broadcasting & Cable TV | FSCI | ??????????????? 278 |
| Pendrell Corp | 0718 – Investment Services | PCO | ??????????????? 277 |
| U.S. Lime & Minerals Inc. | 0212 – Construction – Raw Materials | USLM | ??????????????? 271 |
| Winmark Corporation | 0963 – Retail (Specialty Non-Apparel) | WINA | ??????????????? 264 |
| Arden Group, Inc. | 0957 – Retail (Grocery) | ARDNA | ??????????????? 263 |
| Clifton Savings Bancorp, Inc. | 0727 – Regional Banks | CSBK | ??????????????? 262 |
Not so surprising, there are:
- A lot of limited partnerships and royalty trusts.
- Many financial firms.
- Many companies where there is a controlling shareholder, and liquidity is scarce relative to size.
All that said, this is an area of the market where few tread, and there may be some values to be had.
Now, there were some companies that were far less liquid, and with less disclosure,? that fit the above criteria, and I list them here.
|
Extremely Limited Liquidity |
|||
| Company | Industry | Ticker | Market Cap $M |
| Belk Inc | 0951 – Retail (Department & Discount) | BLKIA | ??????????? 1,839 |
| SunGame Corporation | 1036 – Software & Programming | SGMZ | ??????????????? 746 |
| First National Bank Alaska | 0727 – Regional Banks | FBAK | ??????????????? 555 |
| Computer Services, Inc. | 1036 – Software & Programming | CSVI | ??????????????? 463 |
| First Citizens Bancorporation, | 0727 – Regional Banks | FCBN | ??????????????? 410 |
| TherapeuticsMD Inc | 0921 – Motion Pictures | TXMD | ??????????????? 311 |
| Hills Bancorporation | 0727 – Regional Banks | HBIA | ??????????????? 304 |
| Farmers & Merchants Bancorp | 0727 – Regional Banks | FMCB | ??????????????? 284 |
Some of these look promising as longs, if you can get shares. Others look promising as shorts, if you can get a borrow.? Remember that the illiquid end of the market is the place where promoters play, creating their own internal version of the “bucket shop,” getting people to buy in at higher valuations, while they sell out for a profit.
These are companies where personal research can pay off, because few others are analyzing them.? I own one of them, and it is:
Full Disclosure: long NWLI
It may be interesting to look at companies that only have 1 analyst whom they hired to “cover” them, as this is really almost the same thing as “no analysts” and it will expand the universe. It’s a common practice I’m told.
I will do another analysis, on one analyst; should be interesting.