Topic: How To Invest

Q: Hi Pat: I would be interested in getting your thoughts on Lawson Products. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Lawson Products Inc., $30.00, symbol LAWS on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 8.9 million; Market cap: $266.7 million; www.lawsonproducts.com), distributes over 300,000 industrial maintenance and repair products. It also provides inventory management services to customers in the maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) market. They include industrial, commercial, institutional and government clients. The company was founded by Sidney L. Port in 1952 and is headquartered in Chicago. Lawson’s products and services fall into several categories: automotive, chemicals, cutting tools and abrasives, electrical, fasteners, fluid power, hand tools, material handling, safety, shop supplies, storage equipment (plus inventory management and engineering services), technical information, and eBusiness and scanning systems. The company has distribution centers in North America, and ships to customers in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Under its Kent Automotive brand, Lawson supplies products to collision and mechanical repair shops. Overall sales rose 6.0%, from $269.5 million in 2013 to $285.7 million in 2014. Sales then dropped 3.5% to $275.8 million in…