For all their many years, the businesses are wonderfully robust. Last year Rand McNally's sales topped $450 million; Benjamin Moore's, $550 million. And Kohler's revenues are pushing $2 billion.

Venerable, large, boasting instant recognition virtually the world over, they also share a secret only the privileged few are privy to: They're publicly owned.

But don't, please, waste your time looking for their shares on the Big Board, the Curb or Nasdaq. These securities show up only in the Pink Sheets or on Nasdaq's OTC Bulletin Board, where they nestle, cheek by uncomfortable jowl, with legions of dubious issues and penny stocks. But as the trio's presence suggest, those out-of-the-way venues also contain a sprinkling of wonderful, if sequestered, companies.

Of course, buying even a single share of a very thinly traded issue can take loads of patience and savvy. Not to mention capital. Three shares of Kohler, for example, traded in April. The price: $115,000 a share.

And, very often, the investor is flying blind. Many unlisted companies—even decent-sized, first-rate ones—have too few shareholders to require them to file with the SEC.

Nature, however, abhors a vacuum—and so, happily, does Harry Eisenberg.
An accountant by training, Eisenberg this summer published Walker's Manual of Unlisted Stocks. It provides financials on 500 unlisted companies. In gathering data, Eisenberg soon discovered that some of these firms are zealously determined to shelter their financials from public view.

Rand McNally, recounts Eisenberg, told him it was a private company. He wasn't buying any of it. What he did buy—and within 10 minutes of that conversation—was one share of Rand McNally at $400. (Instant gratification, it should be stressed, is often costly in unlisted stocks. Rand McNally stock is currently $290 bid, $335 offered.)

But the 47-year-old investor had no qualms about paying up, even overpaying, for a share of stock. It's a great way to get on the company's mailing list, he figures. A self-confessed neophyte at this game when he began, Eisenberg headed to Vero Beach, Fla., where he received serious instruction from Ed McLaughlin, a long-time collector of little-known stocks and the subject of more than one Barron's Q&A.

Soon Eisenberg was buying unlisted shares in larger quantities. Since the beginning of this year, he reports, he has invested more than $700,000 in some 50 unlisted securities.

Whether his investments work out remains to be seen. But he has demonstrated that no matter how thin the issue, where there's a will to buy, there's usually a way. And by publishing all the financials he can get his hands on, Eisenberg is shedding light on some obscure and intriguing stocks.

What should be stressed is that for an intelligent investor (like one who reads Barron's) Eisenberg's manual is only a start, a way to screen for potentially interesting stocks. More than a few unlisted issues are probably best left undisturbed. Some, however, are well-established, with flourishing businesses. What's more, they even cheerfully answered Eisenberg's calls.

Decker Manufacturing of Albion, Mich., around since 1927, sells industrial fasteners and pipe plugs, mostly to car makers. Three-year return on assets is 13%. The balance sheet is great. Shares, at $43, go for 10 times earnings and yield over 6%.

Bozzuto's, in business since 1945, is a Connecticut-based food wholesaler that also owns and operates supermarkets. It sells at 90% of book and nine times net.

Over 90 years old, Robroy Industries of Verona, Pa., restructured operations last year. And that took a toll on earnings. But without one-time items, this maker of conduit and tubing would be going for about 12 times net.

Fisher Cos. lays claim to a stock market value approaching $400 million and host of subsidiaries that do everything from handling grain and mill flour to developing real estate and running radio and TV stations. Over the past three years, earnings have compounded 33% a year. This Seattle-based firm, established in 1910, sells at 17 times earnings and twice book.

That quartet is part of the two-dozen-odd companies in the accompanying table, culled from Eisenberg's 500. Receptive to inquiries or not, all struck us as worth ordering up a set of financials. (Prospective investors who get the brushoff might do well to ask themselves, before committing large sums, if they're willing to litigate to protect their interests. It's not unheard of for closely held firms to attempt to buy out minority holders on the cheap.)

Most firms on the list have been around quite a spell. Which means book value may be way understated. Assets acquired decades ago—whether telephone networks, timber, radio stations or raw land—may be worth considerably more today. Yet with one exception all sell for less than three times book value.

All but five sell for under 20 times earnings, and over half sell for under 12 times. For a dozen of these firms, moreover, during recent years, return on assets—a measure of profitability that's not ratcheted up by a heavy debt load—has averaged a handsome 9% or better. Nearly every company in the table, by the way, enjoys strong finances.

And even the most expensive stock—International Speedway, which sells at over seven times book and 33 times earnings—may not be over priced. Sure, shares that went for $70 in '92 now trade at $270, giving the company a stock market value of over $600 million. But this Daytona Beach firm has a unique franchise. It owns or leases speedways including the Daytona Speedway, the Talladega Superspeedway, Darlington Raceway, Tucson Raceway and Watkins Glen International. What's more, its subsidiaries own concessions, peddle souvenirs and syndicate the radio broadcasts. In three years, sales have grown from $53 million to $84 million and earnings from $5 a share to $8 a share, while return on assets has handily averaged 17%.

Founded in 1894, Hershey Creamery, of Harrisburg, Pa., was vending ice cream long before refrigerated trucks. In the "Thirties, it charged 15 cents a pint. With revenues of $74 million, Hershey now sells in 17 states and last year earned a nice 9% on assets. At 1,660 a share, the stock sells at 11 times earnings and very close to book. Shares are offered at 1,725.

Another high-priced issue, Lexington-based Kentucky River Coal, ended the week at 2,800 bid, 2,950 offered. Volume was shares. This $215 million firm owns land and mineral reserves in Eastern Kentucky and explores for oil and gas. The balance sheet is rock-solid and the company's stated objective is providing ample dividend income. At the offering, shares yield 6.8%.

Roseville Telephone of Roseville, Calif., supplies the only phone service to an 83-square-mile territory in Placer and Sacramento counties. It's the largest with a market cap of $377 million, of a number of phone companies in Walker's Manual. Incorporated in 1914, Roseville sells at 20 times earnings, twice book.

What could be duller than rocks? Maybe sand, gravel, ready-mix concrete—stuff sold by three companies in the table. But gravel pits and quarries can't be dug just anywhere these days. Rock reserves can be an appreciating asset, particularly if they are close to cities. Boston Sand & Gravel, as one might suppose, is based in Boston—has been there, in fact, since the turn of the century. It went public in 1929. Yet shares, at $179, are selling at 70% of book and about 11 times depressed earnings. Local construction was soft last year, and Boston Sand earned only $16.47 a share. But a few big projects could turn things around. In '94, for example, the company's earnings per share topped $32.

A far bigger firm, Ash Grove Cement of Overland Park, Kan., has revenues of $400 million and a stock market value approaching $500 million. For the past couple of years, Ash Grove has earned 9% on assets, yet shares, at $120, are going for 1.4 times book and 9.5 times earnings.

Monarch Cement of Humboldt, Kan., in business since 1908, sells at 1.5 times book and eight times earnings. On 11% higher sales last year, earnings jumped 90%, thanks to big capital improvements. In the annual, filed electronically with the SEC, Monarch executives note that demand remains strong. They thank employees for beefed-up efforts; customers, for loyalty; stockholders, for support, and "acknowledge our Heavenly Father for the blessings bestowed on us."

Benjamin Moore of Montvale, N.J., has been buying in stock. And since the company wasn't very friendly when Eisenberg rang it up, he speculates the paintmaker may yearn to go private. Earnings slipped to $3.19 a share last year, from $4.29 in '94. But even at that, return on assets was a none-too-shabby 9.6% and over the past three years, averaged 12.5%. The balance sheet is impeccable. All of which makes shares at 19 times depressed earnings and 2.4 times book intriguing.

Want to own some northern hardwoods? Keweenaw Land Association owns 155,435 acres of forest in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The $28 million company enjoys a double-digit return on assets and sells just over twice book.

Brammer, Rhonda. 1996. Unlisted Numbers: Sizing Up Small Caps. Barron's, 26 August, 17-18.