Q3 | Auer Growth Fund Stock of the Quarter: Kimball Electronics, Inc. [KE]
Q3, 2023 – The managers of the Auer Growth Fund screen thousands of stocks every quarter. This discipline sometimes leads us to an interesting company—with a story or history or performance—that might not be on most investors’ radar. We will be highlighting one of these companies quarterly here. However, we are NOT advocating that the stock is our best-performing stock or that you should purchase it for YOUR portfolio. Because of mutual fund laws and disclosures, we must be careful in discussing any of our holdings, yet we do feel it’s interesting to share information on the company, for this quarter, that we find most intriguing. Please note that, due to our disciplined investment process, this stock may not be currently held in the AUERX portfolio.
The stock for the 3rd quarter of 2023, AUERX stock blog, is Kimball Electronics, Inc., whose stock symbol is KE. Down in a smaller town in Indiana, there were a few “Kimball” companies. One you may be familiar with made pianos. Another was a large furniture company, mostly higher-level office furniture. But one most people do not know about is the electronics one—Kimball Electronics—which started in 1961, but we believe didn’t start trading until 2014. This one has almost 8,000 employees and serves 3 main markets—medical, auto, and industrial.
As of September 20, statistics from Yahoo Finance showed Kimball Electronics’ last 12 months of revenue was $1.8 billion, the company had a market value of $683 million, the market close price was $27.66, the trailing 12-month price-to-earnings was 12.4x, and the dividend yield was 0%. The book value was $21.19 a share, total long-term debt was $284 million, and total cash was $43 million.
On August 16, 2023, Kimball Electronics reported its latest results, and sales and operating income were both all-time record highs. AUERX is very interested in the investment of this over-a-billion-dollar sales company in small-town Jasper, Indiana—Kimball Electronics (KE).
Holdings are subject to change at any time and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The thoughts and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author. The discussion of individual companies should not be considered a recommendation of such companies by the Fund’s investment adviser. The discussion is designed to provide a reader with an understanding of how the Fund’s investment adviser manages the Fund’s portfolio.