Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of February 11, 2014?

Article Excerpt

When we look for stocks to buy for our portfolio-management clients, we pay special attention to hidden assets. These are assets that companies own, but that do not carry much weight on company balance sheets. You might think of them as a bonus asset that you get for free. For instance, when a company buys real estate, the purchase price goes on its balance sheet as the value of the asset. Over a period of years or decades, the market value of that real estate may climb substantially. But the purchase price remains unchanged on the balance sheet. You have to look closely to spot this hidden value. At times, the hidden value in a company’s real estate can come to exceed the market value of its stock. This hidden value may only become apparent to investors when the company upgrades the use of the real estate. For example, a merchandiser might repurpose a parking lot to build a shopping…