Topic: Growth Stocks

Pick of the U.S. Manufacturers – Two U.S. Buys for an Economic Rebound

LOJACK CORP. $12.51 (Nasdaq symbol LOJN; SI Rating: Speculative) (www.lojack.com; 1-781-326 4700; Shares outstanding: 18.5 million; Market cap: $231.8 million) sells vehicle theft recovery systems. The company has two main products: the LoJack Vehicle Recovery System and the LoJack Early Warning System. LoJack operates in the U.S. and 30 other countries around the world. In Canada, the company operates through its subsidiary, Boomerang Tracking.

LoJack’s recovery systems use radio frequency technology to track stolen vehicles. Once a customer realizes a vehicle is stolen, they contact police. Local police cruisers and aircraft equipped with LoJack technology (supplied at no cost by LoJack to law enforcement agencies) are led to the tracking device.

In the three months ended December 31, 2007, Lo- Jack’s sales rose 8.2%, to $55.3 million from $51.1 million. Earnings excluding one-time items 2.3%, to $4.5 million or $0.24 a share, from $4.4 million or
$0.23.

New markets provide growth

International markets are a growth area for all of the company’s products, particularly in Latin America and Europe. To broaden its markets, LoJack has successfully expanded into new areas. It now offers Lo- Jack For Motorcycles. It’s also active in the area of tracking stolen construction equipment, as well as cargo and freight tracking and recovery. LoJack for Laptops secretly calls a monitoring center when a stolen laptop is connected to the Internet.

LoJack will need a rebound in new car sales to show substantial growth. But the company remains well-positioned to profit in a recovery.

LoJack is still a buy.

TEMPUR-PEDIC $17.16 (New York symbol TPX; SI Rating: Speculative)(800-878-8889; www.tempurpedic.com; Shares outstanding: 75.1 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion) makes and distributes Swedish Mattresses and Neck Pillows made from its proprietary Tempur pressure-relieving material. The material (which the company refers to as visco-elastic) conforms to the body to provide support and help alleviate pressure points. Products are sold in 60 countries.

In the three months ended December 31, 2007, Tempur-Pedic’s sales rose 12.6%, to $289 million from $256.6 million. Earnings rose 31.1%, to $39.9 million from $30.5 million. The year-earlier quarter included a $10.7 million one-time pre-tax charge. Earnings per share rose 43.2% in the latest quarter, to $0.53 from $0.37, on fewer shares outstanding due to share buybacks.

Cheap in relation to earnings

Tempur-Pedic expects to report earnings per share this year between $2.03 and $2.20. The stock trades at just 8.1 times the average of this year’s estimate. Tempur- Pedic pays dividends at the rate of $0.06 per quarter. The shares now yield 1.9%. The company plans to continue buying back shares.

Tempur-Pedic’s shares are down lately on worries that lower consumer confidence may result from higher energy prices and a slowdown in the U.S. housing market. That could hurt mattress and pillow sales. Approximately 75% of mattress sales are replacements, so buyers can postpone their purchases if they choose.

Despite the possibility that the economy will slow down, we still like the company’s prospects.

Tempur-Pedic is still a buy.

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