“March provided a list of four diverse companies all announcing 2 for 1 splits. United Stationers, Inc. (USTR) scored very well on our ranking screens and is the clear choice for inclusion in the 2 for 1 portfolio when the market opens next week. USTR is a distributor of office supplies and many other ‘housekeeping’ items used by all types of commercial enterprises. It also wholesales to retail office supply stores.
“This is a rather mundane but obviously necessary niche in the business world and USTR has developed a strong business exploiting it. United Stationers pays a modest dividend and is a good value with a P/E of 15.4 and a price-to-book of just over 2. This is not a wildly profitable or fast growing business but it is on a very solid footing and should turn in some good results as the economy improves. It does have a volatility index higher than the overall market’s, but that was the only negative parameter among all the screens in our ranking formula.”
Neil Macneale, 2 for 1 Stock Split Newsletter, 4/15/11
