Never Flashy, Miller Industries Is Executing

Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) is not an especially rewarding stock to write about. While this is a well-run company with strong market share, not all that much changes from year to year and there is only so much you can say about the wiggles and wobbles in gross margin or inventory levels. That said, this continues to be a stock and a company that I believe can reward patient investors who are comfortable owning a name that will never be especially liquid or well-covered.

Read more here:
Never Flashy, Miller Industries Is Executing

Seeking Alpha: Miller Industries Is No Wreck

Although I thought the valuation of Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) was getting a little stretched in the spring of 2015, I'm still a little surprised that the shares have fallen close to 20% despite a generally decent performance. Perhaps that's the price of toiling in obscurity (as Miller is uncovered) or maybe investors were spooked by the surprisingly weak gross margin in the first quarter and the generally unimpressive margin trajectory seen this year. After all, if Miller can't generate good margins when volumes are high and input costs like steel and aluminum are low, isn't that a problem?

I am inclined to think that things are fine at Miller. Given that the Tennessee plant is running two 10-hour shifts a day, I don't think lack of demand is the problem, and the eventual smoothing out of plant construction and reorganization should help. I think Miller is undervalued, but I'm also looking for levels of cash flow production in the future that have been difficult for the company to maintain in the past. Investors should also note that the liquidity and float are too low here for this to ever be a well-covered stock on the institutional side.

Read the full article here:
Miller Industries Is No Wreck

Seeking Alpha: Miller Industries Making The Most Of An Upturn

Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) is well off the beaten path. Practically uncovered, this leading manufacturer of tow truck chassis has nevertheless been performing pretty well of late as the company has been leveraging improving domestic demand, a growing foreign operation, and internal cost improvements into a strong run of double-digit operating profit growth.

Now, though, it seems like a fair time to wonder how much upside is left. These shares have risen about 30% since my last article and almost 50% since I wrote on them as a Top Idea in the fall of 2013, and the valuation no longer looks as skewed to "high upside, low downside" as it once was. Although I expect Miller to improve upon its long-term track record of revenue growth and free cash flow generation and I may be underestimating the potential of the company's efforts overseas, it's hard for me to call the shares dramatically undervalued. I still think Miller could generate double-digit annual total returns for its shareholders, but reward and risk look more balanced now unless/until Miller can really outperform on the margins and generate even more cash flow.

Follow this link for the full article:
Miller Industries Making The Most Of An Upturn

Seeking Alpha: Miller Still Underfollowed And Undervalued

As Top Ideas go, Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) hasn't really worked out so far. Up about 13% since my original late September piece, the shares have done alright compared to Spartan Motors (NASDAQ:SPAR) and Oshkosh (NYSE:OSK), but they've lagged the S&P 500 and Supreme Industries (NYSEMKT:STS). While none of these are particularly good comps (Supreme is more focused on truck bodies, Spartan on emergency response and delivery vehicles, Oshkosh on aerial work platforms, defense, and fire/rescue/refuse), I think the problem is that access to capital for small businesses (and most towing companies are smaller businesses) is still limited and Miller is an illiquid stock with no sell-side support.

I still believe this is a stock that can generate market-beating returns over the long term. Double-digit revenue growth is not the "new normal", but catch-up/replacement spending should generate above-market growth for a few years and the company's offshore growth efforts offer meaningful upside. I'm not looking for particularly ambitious margin improvements, but I think the shares are about 20% undervalued today.

Continue here:
Miller Still Underfollowed And Undervalued

Seeking Alpha: Miller Industries Quietly Executing

I cannot say that I'm thrilled with how Miller Industries (MLR) has performed since I wrote about it as a Top Idea in September of 2013. The shares are slightly ahead of the market since then, and the comp group has ranged from the outperforming Oshkosh (OSK) to the underperforming Spartan Motors (SPAR), but I was hoping for better performance as the company's sales improved. By the same token, this company is totally ignored by the sell-side and isn't very liquid, so it is the type of stock where investors need to have patience in the long-term story.

Looking to the rest of 2014, I continue to like Miller as a play on recovering demand for capital equipment in the towing sector. International markets remain a long-term growth opportunity and the company should see some margin benefits from better operating leverage. As I believe the shares are about 30% below fair value, I still see this as a quality small-cap GARP idea.

Continue reading here:
Miller Industries Quietly Executing

Seeking Alpha: Miller Industries Anything But A Wreck

I have a habit of digging deep into under-followed and obscure corners of the industrial world, and it has turned up a lot of good investment opportunities over the years. Leading tow truck and car carrier company Miller Industries (MLR) would seem to fit the profile, as this company leads an industry worth an estimated $600 million or more per year, and has only scratched the surface of its overseas opportunities.

To be fair, Miller's record with respect to margins and returns on capital isn't spotless, but I attribute much of this to the ups and downs of the towing industry it serves - an industry with few large-scale operators and above-average economic sensitivity. On its own, I believe Miller is worth around $23 per share, but I would expect the sale of the company to be a "when, not if" event, and Miller could be worth even more to the right acquirer than its stand-alone valuation would indicate.

Please follow this link for more:
Miller Industries Anything But A Wreck

Seeking Alpha: Oshkosh Has The Margins; Can It Grow Revenue Enough?

It has been an interesting run for specialty vehicle manufacturer Oshkosh (OSK) over the last three or four years. The company was able to leverage its long expertise in tactical vehicles for the defense market into strong revenue and cash flow during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the sharp declines in defense demand, coupled with a weak market for construction-related and municipal vehicles, cut the shares down almost two-thirds between mid-2010 and the fall of 2011.

Oshkosh's struggles attracted the attention of Carl Icahn, but management successfully fended off his efforts by convincing shareholders that the company's MOVE strategy was the better plan for the company. I'd argue that the company's running tally of strong quarterly beats is a good argument that the MOVE strategy is a good one, and the market has rewarded the shares to the tune of a 70% gain over the past year. Looking ahead, though, the story is now evolving into one that less about margins and more about whether the company can log enough revenue growth in its non-defense businesses to keep the numbers moving forward.

Please read more here:
Oshkosh Has The Margins; Can It Grow Revenue Enough?

Seeking Alpha: For Oshkosh, Offense Is Better Than Defense

What the government giveth, it can taketh away. While Oshkosh (OSK) reaped some significant growth from its tactical truck business while Department of Defense budgets were flush, tighter budgets have brought down expectations and valuation significantly. While Oshkosh is going to be hard-pressed to fully neutralize tougher defense comps with better sales of commercial trucks, fire/emergency vehicles, and access equipment, the undemanding valuation nevertheless makes this one worth a little due diligence.

Feast And Famine From The Public Purse
More than half of Oshkosh's revenue comes from its defense business, and that's quite clearly not a "private payer" market. But it's not just the federal government that underwrites a lot of Oshkosh's business. While the company has leading share in airport, fire, and rescue vehicles, vehicle sales in these markets depend significantly on state and municipal budgets. All in all, then, something north of 70% of Oshkosh's revenue is derived from some sort of government spending.

Please click here for more:
For Oshkosh, Offense Is Better Than Defense

Investopedia: Miller Industries - A Great Little Company That No One Knows

Sometimes good opportunities literally drive past you on the highway and you take no notice of them. Take the case of tow trucks. If you drive, you probably see a few every week if not every day. But do you ever stop to think about who makes them, or whether there's any money to be made there in a stock portfolio? Investors who can live with the volatility and risk that goes with small-cap stocks should definitely take a look at Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) - an industry leader that almost nobody seems to know about. (For more, see Earning Forecasts: A Primer.)

A Simple Business, Handled Well  
Miller Industries is the largest manufacturer of tow truck and vehicle recovery equipment, and the owner of well-known (within the industry, at least) brands like Century and Vulcan. Importantly, Miller does not actually manufacture the underlying trucks. Miller's bodies and equipment are mounted on third-party truck chassis like those made by Navistar International (NYSE:NAV), PACCAR (Nasdaq:PCAR), Daimler (OTCBB:DDAIF.PK) and Volvo (OTCBB:VOLVY.PK) and then sold to customers in the vehicle recovery basis.

Read the full piece here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Miller-Industries--A-Great-Little-Company-That-Nobody-Knows-MLR-NAV-PCAR-OSK0112.aspx