| Ticker symbol | Company | Price as of 7/01/03 | 52-week high | 52-week low | % price change last month | Revenue per share T4Q | % total debt/total capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIRECT TO CONSUMER | |||||||
| FLWS | 1-800-Flowers.com | $8.24 | $11.30 | $4.75 | 0.5% | $8.18 | 11.3% |
| BL | Blair Corp. | 21.12 | 26.80 | 18.25 | 4.7% | 70.96 | 6.1 |
| CWTR | Coldwater Creek | 12.91 | 17.05 | 7.97 | (0.1) | 29.78 | 0 |
| HNV | Hanover Direct | 0.27 | 0.35 | 0.16 | 40.0 | 3.26 | 45.8 |
| JILL | J. Jill Group | 16.64 | 27.50 | 9.51 | 9.8 | 17.66 | 9.8 |
| LVC | Lillian Vernon Corp. | 7.23 | 7.23 | 3.65 | 1% | 28.49 | 0 |
| MBAY | MediaBay | 0.75 | 4.90 | 0.64 | (7.7) | 3.39 | 63.2 |
| SPGLA | Spiegel | 0.08 | 0.11 | 0.05 | (25.0) | 22.53 | 466.8 |
| DIRECT TO BUSINESS | |||||||
| BBOX | Black Box Corp. | $37.36 | $51.39 | $25.58 | (2.9%) | $29.68 | 13.9% |
| CDWC | CDW Corp. | 46.07 | 56.58 | 36.30 | 12.5 | 48.92 | 0 |
| HSIC | Henry Schein | 52.81 | 57.73 | 34.17 | 6.8 | 64.82 | 22.5 |
| MSM | MSC Industrial Direct | 17.34 | 20.23 | 9.30 | (5.7) | 12.01 | 0.3 |
| NEB | New England Business Service | 29.21 | 30.15 | 19.99 | 11.2 | 40.68 | 52.4 |
| PCCC | PC Connection | 7.12 | 10.82 | 3.72 | (7.5) | 49.82 | 4.2 |
| MALL | PC Mall | 4.25 | 4.65 | 1.76 | 19.4 | 81.59 | 39.4 |
| PFP | Premier Farnell | 6.85 | 7.89 | 4.25 | 9.9 | 7.84 | 74.9 |
| SCHS | School Specialty | 28.03 | 28.83 | 17.03 | 33.3 | 40.08 | 52.1 |
| SSPY | Sport Supply Group | 1.85 | 2.10 | 1.28 | 5.6 | 11.41 | 31.6 |
| TESS | Tessco Technologies | 6.81 | 13.09 | 6.25 | (6.5) | 60.45 | 20.8 |
| ZONS | Zones | 1.11 | 1.60 | 0.60 | 0 | 30.27 | 0.7 |
| Sources: StockVal, Bloomberg | |||||||
Both the publicly traded consumer catalogers tracked and their business-to-business counterparts outperformed the S&P 500 in June. Granted, the S&P rose a scant 1.1% for the month, but an increase is an increase.
The eight consumer catalogers tracked for Catalog Age by Financial Advisory Partners enjoyed a collective 3.0% rise in stock value. Multititle mailer Hanover Direct helped buoy the average with its 40% lift in stock price. Given where the parent company of The Company Store and Domestications had been trading, though, that 40% surge translated to lifting Hanover’s stock price to…$0.27 a share. As we said earlier, though, an increase is an increase. Two other consumer marketers, gifts and home goods merchant 1-800-Flowers.com and women’s apparel cataloger/retailer J. Jill Group, benefited from a nearly 10% boost in share price.
The 12 b-to-b catalogers tracked saw shares rise an average of 6.3%. Educational supplies marketer School Specialty led the pack with a 33% gain, bringing its stock price near its 52-week high. Other big gainers were PC Mall (up 19%), CDW (nearly 13%), and New England Business Service (NEBS; up more than 11%).
“With a higher mix of fixed costs than store-based retailers, these [b-to-b] companies are likely to show sharp profit gains as the economy continues to improve,” says Ken Packer, managing partner of Waukee, IA-based Financial Advisory Partners.