Topic: How To Invest

Message: Hi Pat: I use a few products from the Johnson Outdoors company and was wondering what you think of the company as an investment. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Johnson Outdoors, $26.74, symbol JOUT on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 8.7 million; Market cap: $266.5 million; www.johnsonoutdoors.com), sells products for activities like camping, fishing and boating worldwide. The company’s Marine Electronics segment, which supplies 62% of Johnson’s sales, offers battery-powered motors for fishing or primary propulsion; sonar and GPS equipment for fish finding and navigation; downriggers for controlled-depth fishing; and autopilot systems for large boats. Its Outdoor Equipment division (10% of sales) sells recreational camping gear, such as tents and sleeping bags; commercial and military tents; and field compasses and digital instruments. The Watercraft segment (11%) offers canoes, kayaks, paddles and personal flotation devices. Johnson’s Diving segment (17%) markets a line of underwater diving and snorkelling equipment, such as regulators, buoyancy compensators, dive computers and gauges, wetsuits, masks, fins and snorkels. In the three months ended June 28, 2013, Johnson’s revenue rose slightly, to $129.8 million from $128.6 million a year earlier. Earnings per share jumped 50.5%, to $1.37 from $0.91, but that…