Midas Could Be a Golden Pick

• ByJonathan Heller, RealMoney Contributor
• On 2:30 pm EDT, Wednesday March 11, 2009

Even automobile repair businesses (and those with associated retail operations such as Pep Boys ) have not been able to escape the doom and gloom of this economy. Intuitively, that might make sense -- for a while, anyway -- as consumers put off as many purchase decisions as they can, even auto repair. But given the dismal new-car sales, you'd have to imagine that sooner or later, business will be booming in repair-shop land. After all, cars need maintenance, and it's a lot cheaper than buying a replacement.

Midas is probably a brand that is (or was) familiar to you, if for no other reason than the company's catchy television ad campaigns of yesteryear. The company has fallen off the radar in recent years, however, and many investors may not even realize that the company is publicly traded. It has a fairly big presence, too.

The company opened its first shop in 1956 but did not become an independent publicly traded company until it was spun off by Whitman in 1998. Today, Midas is one of the largest providers of auto repair and maintenance, with more than 2,500 locations in 16 countries, including 1,600 in the U.S. and Canada. The primary services offered are exhaust systems, brakes, shock absorbers and struts, brakes and tire replacement.

Most of the company's stores in North America (1,620) and all international locations (844) are franchised, while 91 are company operated. The company's structure is interesting, in that it provides four major revenue sources: franchise royalties and license fees (31% of 2008 revenue), real estate revenue from franchised shops (18%), company-operated shops (33%), and parts sales/product royalties (16%). Software sales and maintenance revenue is a bit player (3%).

What really caught my attention, besides the fact that the company is profitable through this recession so far, is that Midas owns 223 of its locations (as of Dec. 29). At its current enterprise value of about $220 million, that puts the EV/owned locations -- a calculation I use for perspective when evaluating retailers that own some or all of their real estate -- at just over $986,000. Often when you find these situations, they are accompanied by heavy loads of debt, but in Midas' case, total debt (including capitalized leases) was just under $119 million as of the latest reported quarter (Jan. 3).

Midas recently reported pretty decent numbers for the fourth quarter and full year, especially considering the tough operating environment. For the year, total revenue was up 5% (over a 53-week period vs. 52 last year), while net income fell 41% to $7.9 million. For the fourth quarter, revenue increased 1% (14 weeks vs. 13 last year), while net income fell 47% to $2.7 million. Clearly, this was challenged operating performance, but in the current environment, it could have been much worse.

You won't find a lot of cash on the balance sheet (just $1.1 million), but that has always been par for the course with Midas. I do, however, like the fact that the company has bought back a decent amount of stock over time, including 1 million shares over the past year, which reduced shares outstanding 7%, to 14 million.

Cash flow from operations also continues to be strong: $1.90 a share for the latest year, and the company still has significant operating loss carry forward, to the tune of $75 million. Consensus estimates -- just two analysts -- are calling for 2010 earnings of 67.5 cents a share for 2010, putting the forward price-to-earnings ratio at 11, vs. the current trailing P/E of 13.

Just like many others these days, I'm looking for businesses that are holding up fairly well during this recession and trading cheap relative to assets, cash flow and earnings, especially in micro-cap land, and Midas appears to fit the bill.

Unfortunately -- or fortunately, depending on your perspective -- Midas does not garner a great deal of press or analyst coverage, although the team at Mark Boyar just released a thoughtful and very detailed research piece on Midas in its Focus Asset Analysis product.

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Know what you own: Heller mentions Midas. Other companies in the specialty retail sector include Staples , Luxottica , Ultrapar Holdings , Petsmart and Barnes & Noble .

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Please note that due to factors including low market capitalization and/or insufficient public float, we consider Pep Boys and Midas to be small-cap stocks. You should be aware that such stocks are subject to more risk than stocks of larger companies, including greater volatility, lower liquidity and less publicly available information, and that postings such as this one can have an effect on their stock prices.

Buzz up!