Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: Thanks for all your great insight and recommendations. What do you think about Richelieu Hardware? Thanks again.

Article Excerpt

Richelieu Hardware, $32.58, symbol RCH on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 20.9 million; Market cap: $680.9 million; www.richelieu.com), is a North American distributor, importer and manufacturer of specialty hardware and related products. The company sells more than 90,000 items through 34 distribution centres in Canada and 24 in the U.S. It sources these products from manufacturers around the world. Richelieu also owns two manufacturing plants in Canada, Cedan Industries Inc., which makes a wide variety of veneer sheet products (decorative thin surfaces of finely grained wood, glued to bases of inferior material), and Menuiserie des Pins Ltée, which makes decorative mouldings and components for windows and doors. The company has more than 70,000 customers, including makers of cabinets, furniture, windows and doors. It also has customers in the residential and commercial woodworking industry, as well as a large number of hardware retailers, including renovation superstores. In 2011, Richelieu’s sales rose 17.2%, to $523.8 million from $447.0 million. Earnings per share rose 5.0%, to $1.88 from $1.79. The…