In this article, we will look at 8 Best Conglomerate Stocks to Buy Now.
What are conglomerate stocks? These stocks are the ones that have their ownerships in diverse businesses, spanning different sectors like finance, energy, technology, healthcare, etc. To be precise, a conglomerate is a business model where many companies are collected into a single large corporation that is owned by the parent company.
A conglomerate can consist of many businesses in the same industry or from different industries to diversify business and navigate risks. Some conglomerates tend to own a series of companies that make up the entire labor and supply chain for a single end product.
In a conglomerate, a parent company has the controlling stakes of all the smaller and unrelated businesses that operate independently. At times, conglomeration gets enacted by holding companies specializing in M&As. These companies are formed specifically to acquire smaller companies and collect business interests.
Investing in Conglomerate Stocks
There are several benefits of investing in conglomerates, some of which include diversification into several sectors, stability in revenues, synergistic opportunities, and many more. Conglomerates tend to provide greater stability and resilience at the time of market fluctuations as compared to pure-play companies.
Conglomerates have internal capital markets. This means that if one business of the conglomerate performs poorly, its loss can be offset by the other businesses performing relatively better. These businesses benefit by establishing synergies as the costs of operating a series of businesses can be reduced via consolidation. Conglomerates are capable of moving significant sums of money from businesses having limited opportunities for incremental investment to other areas possessing greater potential. These businesses have the potential to scale far larger in size as compared to the businesses constrained by the limited potential of that particular industry in which they are present.
Therefore, venturing into different industries can result in synergistic benefits, which can lead to significant cost savings along with improved cost efficiency. When a series of businesses in a conglomerate combine their resources, the conglomerate CEO can negotiate better deals with suppliers and manage procurement costs. This will ultimately lead to the optimization of production processes. Conglomerates can leverage a diverse portfolio of businesses, leading to cross-selling and cross-promotion opportunities. Through the promotion of complementary products, conglomerates can drive revenue growth.
2024 has been quite volatile for the broader market as a result of sticky inflation, high interest rates, and recession fears. Investing in conglomerates might help investors steer through these uncertain times. S&P 500 Industrial Conglomerates Sub-Industry Index saw a return of over ~35% over the past year, while the broader index (Dow Jones Industrial Average) went up by ~12%.
While investing in conglomerates has benefited investors most of the time, some may find these investments challenging. There can be a loss of efficiency, including a divergence from the core businesses. Moreover, the resources that get divided over numerous businesses might not be synergistic. There can be a lack of transparency in conglomerates, impacting their brand name and market share.
For investors, it is of utmost importance to know the company’s true picture. Only then will an investor be able to generate strong and stable returns. Conglomerate CEOs can sometimes resort to dubious accounting methods to show inflated EPS numbers. Warren Buffett exposed this trend in a letter and explained how conglomerate CEOs, in the late 1960s, used to drive their conglomerate’s stock to 20 times earnings only to issue shares at a higher price and then deploy the proceeds to buy out other cheaper companies. At some point, a conglomerate becomes a collection of poor underlying businesses, with little or no growth prospects.
Later on, through the application of different accounting methods, they show increased per-share earnings. This process ultimately led to the redistribution of wealth, rather than the creation of wealth.
Wealth creation comes from investing in stable and sound businesses, having efficient accounting practices, and strong management. Therefore, investors should be wary of bad management and financial shenanigans while investing in conglomerate businesses.
That being said, if the conglomerate form is used effectively and transparently, it can act as an ideal structure for creating generational wealth.
8 Best Conglomerate Stocks to Buy Now
Our Methodology:
We screened for conglomerate stocks on the Finviz stock screener. We compiled an initial list of 15 large conglomerates by market cap and checked their average price targets. We then selected and ranked the 8 stocks that analysts saw the most upside to, as of 6th August 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
8 Best Conglomerate Stocks to Buy Now
8) Tejon Ranch Co. (NYSE:TRC)
Average Upside Potential: 36.48%
Tejon Ranch Co. (NYSE:TRC) is a diversified real estate development and agribusiness company committed to responsibly using its land and resources. The focus is to meet the housing, employment, and lifestyle needs of Californians and create value for the shareholders.
The company announced its 1Q24 financial results, with revenues and other income, including equity in earnings of unconsolidated joint ventures, coming at $9.5 million. This compares to $14.6 million for 1Q23. This decline was because of the mineral resources segment, whose revenue fell $4.4 million over the comparative period because lower water sales revenue was realized.
The company seems to be laying groundwork to help achieve desired growth. For example, in 2023, it closed a new $160 million unsecured revolving credit facility (RCF) with AgWest Farm Credit. The credit facility will be available to finance future real estate construction projects along with other operations. It seems that this new RCF should enhance the company’s financial flexibility to fund future growth.
During 1Q24, it continued its strategic focus on unlocking the value of the unique land assets. Therefore, it started construction of the first residential community, Terra Vista at Tejon. This will be a new multi-family apartment community and will have 228 residences in the first phase. First units are expected to be delivered in 2Q25. This will be another income producing asset for the company’s portfolio.
During the upcoming years, it expects that these income producing activities will generate revenue and cash flow to complement several other sources of funding to ramp up development projects.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2024, 8 hedge funds out of the 920 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Tejon Ranch Co. (NYSE:TRC).
7) Compass Diversified (NYSE:CODI)
Average Upside Potential: 39.83%
Compass Diversified (NYSE:CODI) owns and manages a diverse set of highly defensible, middle-market businesses throughout industrial, branded consumer, and healthcare sectors. The company offers both debt and equity capital for its subsidiaries, contributing to financial and operating flexibility.
The company released its consolidated operating results for the 3 months ended March 31, 2024, with net sales rising 8% as compared to pcp to $524.3 million. This was aided by 61% rise in Lugano net sales and acquisition of The Honey Pot Co. Net income of the company came in at $5.8 million against $109.6 million against pcp. This difference was due to $98.0 million gain on sale of Advanced Circuits in February 2023.
Recently, Compass Diversified (NYSE:CODI) divested its Crosman air gun division. This divestment further strengths the focus of Compass Diversified (NYSE:CODI) on managing innovative and disruptive companies. The proceeds from this transaction will be used for reducing debt and for general corporate purposes.
The stock was held by 7 hedge funds in 1Q 2024, with total stakes worth $24.4 million.
6) Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)
Average Upside Potential: 68.73%
Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) is a business services and industrial company. The company is focused on operating businesses that are either low-cost producers or benefit from high barriers to entry. It has interests in La Trobe (Australian residential mortgage lender), Multiplex Global Limited (construction operation), CDK Global (dealer software and technology services operation), etc. These come under its business services segment. The infrastructure services segment caters to the interests in Scientific Games Lottery (lottery services operation), Modulaire (modular building leasing services), etc. Finally, the Industrials segment includes interests in Clarios Global LP (advanced energy storage operation), Hammerstone Infrastructure Materials Ltd (aggregate production operation), etc.
The company released its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. During the period, the company outperformed analysts’ EPS expectations. It posted EPS of $0.23 per share, crushing forecasts of -$1.55. However, Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) experienced a shortfall in revenue, with the figure coming at $12.06 billion. This exhibits a shortfall of ~25% as compared to the expected figure of $15.99 billion.
The company saw strong margins, and this progress is contributing to improved quality of earnings of its operations. Access to capital continues to be favorable and the company generated ~$300 million of net proceeds as a result of capital recycling initiatives. These initiatives included agreements to sell 2 small operations.
Analysts following the company are primarily bullish on the company’s outlook. For instance, analysts at RBC Capital believe that 1Q 2024 results consisted of incremental positives and should generate growth in portfolio.
Bill Gates mentioned that he has decided to invest billions of dollars in next-gen nuclear power plant project in Wyoming to address increasing US electricity needs. Because of his ownership of Westinghouse Electric Company, Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) controls one of the largest nuclear energy providers in the country. Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU) manages and directs infrastructure of these facilities.
Therefore, the company is directly responsible for offering fuel to reactors, maintenance, components and engineering service to 2/3rd of world’s nuclear power plants. It probably has widest base of any publicly traded US nuclear company to build from as and when this industry expands.
According to Insider Monkey’s first-quarter database, 2 hedge funds held long positions in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU), up from 1 in the previous quarter.
5) RCM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCMT)
Average Upside Potential: 77.21%
RCM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCMT) is the provider of business and technology solutions which are designed to enhance and maximize operational performance of its customers.
The company posted strong top-line growth, maintaining its legacy. Top line went up by 7.2% YoY to $71.9 million for 1Q 2024. This growth stemmed from strong performances throughout its segments, mainly in engineering, where gross profit increased 27.1%. This strong growth in the engineering segment exhibits effective project execution and higher-margin contracts. Collectively, these developments led to overall revenue expansion.
Coming to profitability, the company’s adjusted EBITDA increased 11.1% annually to $6.8 million in 1Q 2024, with adjusted diluted EPS increasing 30.4% to $0.53 per share. These were supported by its sharp cost controls which might lead to sustained growth momentum. RCM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCMT) is focused on expanding its market footprint, mainly in the K–12 education sector. It saw 19.1% revenue growth in school districts served, exhibiting successful onboarding of new clients.
Analysts at Benchmark initiated a coverage on the shares of RCM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCMT) and gave a “Buy” rating. They gave a price objective of $33.00 in a research report dated 15th May.
It seems that the stock of RCM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCMT) is currently undervalued as it trades at ~12.80x of NTM earnings, which is at a deep discount to the sectoral average of ~18.9x. The company is likely to benefit from its cash conversion, that increased both sequentially and YoY in 1Q 2024. It should continue to see improvement in cash flow from operations in each of the upcoming 2 quarters.
In the first quarter of 2024, RCM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCMT) was included in the portfolios of 11 hedge funds, with a total stake value of ~$19.9 million.
4) NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR)
Average Upside Potential: 79.49%
NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR) is a diversified industrial company, combining advanced engineering and production capabilities with in-depth materials science expertise to enable the designing and manufacturing of high-precision solutions and components.
The company released its 1Q 2024 earnings print, wherein, its net sales declined 4.6% YoY to come at $121.2 million. This decline was mainly because of non-recurring end-of-life pricing received in 1Q 2023, rationalized volume at plants undergoing turnarounds, and higher organic volume at profitable plants.
Operating loss came in at ($4.8) million against an operating loss of ($7.1) million in the prior-year period. This improvement was mainly because of items related to 2023 facility closures that included sublease income on closed facilities, and one-off losses that took place during 1Q 2023 on sales of machinery and equipment related to these closures.
The leverage ratio of NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR) as on March 31, 2024 came in at 3.1x, reflecting an improvement from 3.2x at 2023 end. The company expects the leverage ratio to fall below 3.00x by 2024 end.
NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR) focuses on correcting and improving its balance sheet position. In a bid to achieve this, it sold its lone plastics products plant known as Industrial Molding Corporation (IMC) to Davalor Mold Company, which is a wholly-owned portfolio company of Blackford Capital. With the proceeds, which amount to ~$16 million, NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR) plans to pay down debt and will continue to advance its balance sheet initiatives.
On 15th April 2024, Noble Financial assumed coverage on shares of NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR). They gave an “Outperform” rating, and a price target of $6.00 on the stock. According to Insider Monkey’s first-quarter database, 19 hedge funds expressed bullish sentiments towards NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR), up from 11 in the preceding quarter.
Greystone Capital Management, an investment management firm, released its 1Q 2024 investor letter and mentioned NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR). Here is what the fund said:
“In keeping with our theme of investing in companies that cease doing dumb things, two new positions that made their way into the portfolio this quarter include Innovative Food Holdings and NN, Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR). Each business possesses the criteria of being a better business than currently being given credit for, has undergone significant changes in the C-Suite, and has many common-sense items to address that will help reveal each company’s core business quality over time. In other words, plenty of one-foot bars.
For readers in the habit of using quantitative screens to identify investment ideas, NN will likely cause you to turn the other cheek. At first glance, this business does not look pretty. Under the hood, there is a lot to like. The fact patterns here along with management efforts are very similar to our investment in Bel Fuse. Like Bel Fuse, NNBR possesses strong technical expertise, a large manufacturing footprint, and long-dated customer relationships. Also, like Bel Fuse, NN was historically mismanaged, which shows up in the areas of pricing, manufacturing overhead, and new business wins. (Click here to read the full text)”
3) Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW)
Average Upside Potential: 94.17%
Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW) is a personal services company, primarily providing brand solution services, memorialization products, and industrial products in the US and Europe.
One of the primary strengths of the company is its recurring cash flows from the memorialization division. This includes cemetery and funeral home products. This segment is as recession-proof as a business model can be. Apart from this, the company’s brand solutions division possesses a strong foothold in the packaging and merchandising markets, offering further stability and growth potential.
Another positive factor that makes up the buy case is its dividend payout. Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW) has an excellent dividend growth trajectory, as it has consecutively increased its dividend for 29 years. Therefore, the company can weather multiple economic cycles.
Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW) seems to be well positioned, given the demographics. Apart from this, the company has increased its internal stability.
Looking at the company-wide performance over the previous 5 years, it is well-noticed that Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW) produces losses in one year and then posts strong earnings in the next. That being said, the company continues to project stable earnings growth up until 2026.
According to data from Insider Monkey, a total of 13 hedge funds held stakes in Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW).
2) Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE:BOC)
Average Upside Potential: 118.82%
Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE:BOC) is registered with the US SEC and is incorporated in the state of Delaware. The company is engaged in the business of real estate operators (no developers) & lessors.
In 1Q 2024, the company realized total revenues of $25.5 million, exhibiting an increase of 12.0% over revenues of $22.8 million in 1Q 2023. Revenues went up in each of its businesses in 1Q 2024. Most notably, net billboard rentals went up by 3.8%, reflecting an improvement in rental and occupancy rates throughout markets. Revenue from broadband services increased 13.4% reflecting subscriber growth.
Wall Street analysts believe that the company’s current trading levels continue to offer opportunities for investors to go long on this stock. 2023 was a dismal year for Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE:BOC), mainly because its billboard business depends on advertiser demand along with economic conditions. Also, the company’s asset management business is quite sensitive to the US Federal Reserve’s decisions pertaining to interest rates.
Why are analysts optimistic? One of the biggest reasons is that Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE:BOC) has seen a lot of insider activity in the year gone by. Independent Director, Jeffrey Royal, made the biggest purchase over the previous 12 months. This single transaction was at US$192k worth of shares. Royal bought it at US$19.23 each. At the time of writing, the stock trades at US$14.74.
CEO Adam K. Peterson bought 25,300 shares of the firm’s stock on 5th June at the price of $14.37 per share. This equates to a total value of $363,561.00. Director Frank H. Kenan II acquired 30,000 shares of Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE:BOC) on 11th June. These were bought at $14.03 per share.
According to Insider Monkey’s first-quarter database, 13 hedge funds held long positions in Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE:BOC).
1) Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS)
Average Upside Potential: 139.52%
Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS) is a marketing services company, offering multichannel marketing solutions and consulting, data analytics, and strategic assessment.
Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS) is currently benefiting from healthy customer relationships and stability in revenues. Also, it has a strong sales pipeline and presence in small and medium-sized business sectors. The company released its 1Q 2024 financial results. Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS) ended 1Q 2024 with a cash balance of $11.5 million as of March 31, 2024.
In 1Q 2024, it saw operating income of $0.4 million as compared to $1.1 million in 1Q 2023. This decline was due to restructuring expenses during the quarter. Net loss came in at $0.2 million as compared to net loss of $0.8 million in the prior-year quarter. 1Q 2024 included $0.9 million of restructuring expenses. Without this, the company would have generated ~$0.7 million of net income.
Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS) saw total revenues for 1Q 2024 of $45.4 million, exceeding the analysts’ expectations by ~1.3%. The stock of Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS) should be monitored by investors due to its “Elevate” program. This program focuses on improving agility, innovation, organic growth, and customer-centricity. Also, it emphasizes margin expansion and business optimization.
Wall Street analysts expect Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS) to post strong growth heading into 2H24, given its healthy and stable balance sheet. The company has no outstanding debt as at March 31, 2024. Its financial health is well-placed to execute long-term growth strategies in 2024 and beyond.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2024, 5 hedge funds out of the 920 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS).
While we acknowledge the potential of Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS) as an investment, we believe that the artificial intelligence industry has a promising outlook. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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