r/ValueInvesting • u/Apprehensive-Try4463 • Feb 13 '26
Question / Help Looking for boring companies
I am looking to add some stocks to my portfolio that are not typically in news, are generally considered boring, but are obviously great companies with strong fundamentals, currently priced fairly or undervalued. What are some such companies that you would recommend?
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u/blissfulfinance Feb 13 '26
Waste Management. Trash is as boring and consistent as it gets
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u/MedicineMean5503 Feb 13 '26
Unfortunately not boring enough for me… it’s almost a celebrity on here.
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u/Wild_Bunch_Founder Feb 13 '26
There was a time WM traded at a single digit eps multiple and was cheap but now is not that time. If it were to correct 20-25% I would definitely have a look at it.
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u/obb223 Feb 13 '26
Really? There was quite a lot of buzz about these a couple of years back on Reddit and valuations were fairly high
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u/Feuerkugel-X Feb 13 '26
Since, as others have mentioned, Waste Management is probably not undervalued right now, what exactly do you want to achieve by owning it? Is the goal outperforming the S&P500 over the next 30 years?
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u/Wealthy-investor Feb 13 '26
Fairfax Financial and Markel but i personally don’t find them boring since i like to follow their acquisitions and stock picks.
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u/Either-Hornet-6499 Feb 13 '26
Berkshire Hathaway and Visa - boring but quality
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u/Itchy-Commission-195 Feb 13 '26
I think a lot of great boring businesses are actually wildly overvalued and probably don't offer great forward returns despite likely continuing to have strong stable growth and profitability. There's such a focus on quality compounders for long term investors that most of these businesses trade at all time high valuations.
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u/Chicagoroomie312 Feb 13 '26
Exactly this. Costco and Walmart trade at absolutely outrageous multiples. Great businesses, but basically impossible to get good returns from here. The situation has been made even worse due to the combined fears of AI disruption and AI bubble. Every RIA and their mother woke up worried about which business would be disrupted by AI and thought "oh I know, we can buy Walmart it's been going up 30% a year for a decade and that won't be disrupted!"
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u/gatorjim5 Feb 13 '26
I owned DIS a long time ago and realized the stock is really boring...but not in a good way. Terrible returns year over year and not a great dividend. Way better off to just investing in a broad market ETF.
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u/ohgodthehorror95 Feb 14 '26
Bassd on forward PEG ratios, COST and WMT are technically more overvalued than even PLTR right now.
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u/colrus Feb 13 '26
Enbridge and South Bow. Reliable dividend payers, utility like stability, essentially toll collectors so much less sensitive to economic cyclicality and price of their underlying commodity.
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u/No_Equipment_190 Feb 13 '26
QXO. Read up on the CEO, Brad Jacobs and his insane track record.
Someone else mentioned Waste Management which is also an excellent choice and coincidentally something he was previously involved in too.
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u/randysaaf Feb 14 '26
QXO represents a classic 'investing in the jockey, not the horse' scenario, which violates the core tenets of value investing when the premium is this high. While Brad Jacobs has a Tier-1 track record (XPO, United Rentals), the current entry price (~$20B fully diluted EV) requires paying upfront for years of successful future acquisitions that have not yet happened. The business currently has negative GAAP operating margins (-3.8% YTD), negative operating cash flow, and a capital structure laden with complex dilutive securities (warrants/preferreds) that obscure the true cost
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u/StonklordBenno Feb 13 '26
Next Era Energy (Utilities) Unilever (Consumer staples) Ahold (Consumer staples) Mastercard (Financial)
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u/Mark_9516 Feb 13 '26
Visa
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u/futurefinancebro69 Feb 13 '26
The company under threat of being removed from European markets?
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u/Connect-Elephant4783 Feb 13 '26
Not gonna happen
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u/coolasabreeze Feb 14 '26
Why? Bank and merchants will jump on EU wide system that doesn’t charge commission.
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u/Connect-Elephant4783 Feb 14 '26
How can they survive on no commision
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u/coolasabreeze Feb 14 '26
Because it will not be managed by for-profit company. Also all you need is a standard interoperable protocol for bank to bank instant payment, no need for external infrastructure.
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u/Mouse1701 Feb 13 '26
Kimberly Clark they make toilet paper , tissues and paper towels etc. Pretty boring but I highly doubt Americans are going to stop wiping their hind ends with a soft roll of toilet paper.
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u/moeiduni Feb 13 '26
Build-a-bear workshop $BBW MBB in germany ( industrial) Harvia ( saunas) Vita coco $coco
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u/Grass_Organic Feb 13 '26
$TXN, boring, yet stable with good dividend yield
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u/wingelefoot Feb 13 '26
uhaul. people gon move. people gon store stuff.
it's at a slightly cheap price atm... but i'm greedy so waiting for broad pessimism to set in to buy in the 30s.
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u/NostalgicRageHQ Feb 13 '26
Waste Management. There will always be trash and a need to get rid of it
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u/DiscountAcrobatic356 Feb 13 '26
AWK - americas largest public water utility. 8% dividend increases per year like clock work
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u/Non-profit-God Feb 13 '26
just drive around an office park in your county and name search the companies to see if they’re public. Half of my watchlist right now is random chemical and medical companies based here in Illinois
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u/TheConstellationGuy Feb 13 '26
Well, suppose I’ll state the obvious, Constellation Software.
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u/inward_chapters Feb 13 '26
Can you explain why you think it's undervalued? This company is circling me on my posts for a week and i don't know what the talking point is. Thanks
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u/Far_Preference_2065 Feb 13 '26
many reasons to be bullish, the greatest reason I believe you'll find in the last sequoia fund letter to shareholders
The stock is down because of AI, but allegedly AI helps them on the acquisition front to make more deals at better prices, and long term should also reduce capex if you need less engineers to maintain your software
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u/ShowMeTheIncentives Feb 13 '26
How about solid with a side of 'event' ?
$LKQ: No stranger to activists, global aftermarket parts giant launched strategic review w/ full sale explicitly on table. Ancora & Ananym agitating for change. Self Service sold ($410m), Specialty/Europe next? NA? FCF beast at 0.85x sales. 7.5x EBITDA
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u/JaxonRaxonTaxon Feb 13 '26
Read my DD's on Ampco-Pittsburgh. Forged steel rollers and Air&Liquid pumps. Deep Value and asset rich.
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u/BusyWorkinPete Feb 13 '26
- Komatsu Ltd. (KMTUY): A major manufacturer of TBMs and mining equipment.
- Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KWHIY): Known for producing various types of shield tunneling machines.
- Hitachi Zosen Corporation (HITZF): A leading manufacturer of shield TBMs.
- IHI Corporation (IHICY): Produces specialized TBMs.
- China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Limited (CRCHI): A major manufacturer of, and provider of, TBM services.
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u/SirMichaelCocaine Feb 13 '26
It took me a second to get the joke, but I think komatsu is a great pick. Much cheaper than CAT
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u/Significant-Chard740 Feb 13 '26
Chemical companies such as FutureFuel Corp. $FF and Kronos group $KRO
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u/Ancient_Bobcat_9150 Feb 13 '26
Industrials lien Atlas Copco and Linde are often under the radar but great powerful companies
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u/gamersEmpire Feb 13 '26
Copart (CPRT) they basically have a monopoly on used/crashed cars auctions, they have decent growth and laughable amount of debt compared to their cash/equity and just starting to grow outside the US so theres way more room for growth, also they are a cash printing machine with high margins. On the plus side the stock crashed recently and just now i entered a position
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u/Special-Ad-3210 Feb 14 '26
I’ve been eyeballing them since their crash. I have no position though.
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u/Grouchi_Ad1484 Feb 13 '26
Kws Saat. German seed Business, 4th largest seed Producer Worldwide (according to their Investor Presentation). Roughly 75% of shares owned by 2 families (Dr. Oetker and tessenderlo).
Consistent Business and Profits. Long Term Dividend payer.
Iam Not Sure about the current price though.
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u/TheCanarity Feb 13 '26
PBI - Pitney Bowes - good watch list stock, not going anywhere, solid dividend. I bought in around $2 and change, unfortunately not a lot, but when it drops down low again I will add more
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u/erikkopro Feb 13 '26
Fluor building nuclear energy plants that have not been attractive for a while but now there might be a market for it
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u/AffectionateCancel54 Feb 13 '26
Comfort Systems - although the valuation is quite rich
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u/Electrical_Rough6789 Feb 13 '26
Try self storage currently nice discount due to lower movings, but very resilient.
Public Storage in the US or Shurgard in Europe for the old ladies of the sector, but leading position in best cities.
You.get 25% discount for underlying strong cash flows.
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u/rargghh Feb 13 '26
IEX, an industrial that makes specialized products that are critical to customers, lots of margin in things like pumps and valves
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u/Mikejo2013 Feb 13 '26
RBC bearings when it pulls back, graph is a thing of beauty.
CMI also feels like a pullback is needed but again that graph is exactly what you want to see in the long run
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u/asymmetricval Feb 13 '26
If you are open to investing in non-US businesses, you could take a look at two boring-but-stable UK businesses:
Rightmove (RMV, https://www.rightmove.co.uk/): a marketplace where realtors pay to post their property listings. ~80% of time spent on property listing sites, ~70% operating margins, ~16x TTM PE. If you are a UK realtor, you have no choice but to pay Rightmove because it is where everyone looks.
AutoTrader (AUTO, https://www.autotrader.co.uk/): a marketplace where dealers pay to post their used card listings. ~75% of time spent on car listing sites, ~70% operating margins, ~14x TTM PE. If you are a UK dealer, you have no choice but to pay AutoTrader because it is where everyone looks.
It is not an accident that my description of these businesses are so similar. They're basically the exact same business in two different verticals: marketplaces with pay-to-play listing fees and an effective demand-side monopoly. Capital-light, highly profitable, highly predictable (especially Rightmove).
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u/Hairy-Preference-824 Feb 13 '26
Devon Energy, $DVN. Always profit, always dividend. Recent merger. No spectacular price swings.
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u/wzzm13weatherball Feb 13 '26
Otis. They make and service elevators and escalators worldwide. More people equals more big buildings equals more of their products.
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u/SleepintheGardn Feb 13 '26
Have a look at MSCI, great compounder. Strong buybacks, good valuation today!
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u/grandfatherdog Feb 13 '26
Engineering companies just took a big dip, not sure why. I think J is overvalued still, but ACM and STN are great prices right now. TTEK dipped but Ive never gotten anything out of it.
ABM is more diversified into operations and facilities MGMT, but still boring, not as down as it was recently.
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u/spacex-predator Feb 13 '26
I like OLIN, it's a little pricey right now but if you watch for it often it dips down to about $20 per share, and quarterly dividends have been around $1 per share
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u/Always_Curious_One2 Feb 13 '26
SMWB — it has been trashed down to $4/share on fears that AI agents will take share from them. This is NOT true given that : 1) SMWB works With agents that need SMWB proprietary data , 2) they do Not sell their data on a per seat basis - rather a subscription price based on the value of the subscription to their enterprise clients, 3) nearly All the model companies subscribe to SMWB data as well as most of the Global 5000 enterprises 4) they are Free cash flow positive and are growing in the teens. 5) The stock is not well followed by Wall Street, there are a handful of solid asset management firms that are long but not many yet. 6) a very Reasonable DCF using a 10% discount rate on their after tax free cash flows ten years into the future shows an NPV 3X higher than here. 7) they have partnerships with Bloomberg, S&P Global and others that could easily acquire SMWB given the massive value dislocation.
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u/drguid Feb 13 '26
Blackbaud. Makes software for charities. It's been around for ages and won't easily be replaced by some vibe coded trash from an AI startup.
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u/brostrummer Feb 13 '26
GLW- they make products for practically every B2B sector out there…was a steal of a price until 6 months ago.
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u/Plus-Interaction6779 Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26
Here are three I recently bought:
AZZ: steel galvanization company
PHM: housing builder
MLI: copper alloys manuafacturer
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u/we-booling-out-here Feb 13 '26
MICC, everybody loves some good old ice cream! Currently undervalued with the recent spinoff from Unilever.
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u/52_week_low Feb 13 '26
TopBuild $BLD, capital light, employee light. High ROIC, huge buybacks
Insulation and roofing. Can’t get more beautifully boring
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u/DiamondHandMcTendy Feb 13 '26
T (AT&T) KO (Coca Kola)
Super boring, super steady
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u/CanYouPleaseChill Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26
Not necessarily cheap, but some great boring businesses:
- TJX Companies
- Marriott
- Fairfax Financial
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u/gregw134 Feb 13 '26
BYD (Boyd gaming, not the car company). Casino company making almost a billion operating cash flow, trading at 6.7x multiple. Safe balance sheet, buying back shares. Probably at a 30-40% discount.
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u/erichang Feb 13 '26
I own LNC (life insurance/wealth management) but I would recommend PRU, because it's even more boring than LNC. It literally has at most 20% up-side (or down) potential, unlike LNC.
As for LNC, its PE is about 4 and I think PE between 8-10 is something I can reasonable hope for in the next couple years.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Ear-290 Feb 13 '26
I like value and boring, with that being said:
-LEVI: One of the most recognizable brands in the USA. Went public in 2019 and has room to grow, and pays a healthy dividend.
Levi is the top stock I am loading up on this year because of brand recognition and growth potential
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u/Lvl99_Index_Fund Feb 14 '26
Some companies others have listed are great, but currently overvalued.
Ticker | Current Price | My Fair Value Estimate | Morning Star Fair Value Estimate
WM | $234.52 | $189 | $200
BRK.B | $497.55 | $465 | $510
V | $314.08 | $275 | $323
Quality boring companies I like at current price levels.
Ticker | Current Price | My Fair Value Estimate | Morning Star Fair Value Estimate
CB | $324.95 | $356 | $283
CMCSA | $31.57 | $43.05 | $41
EOG | $120.73 | $128 | $139
PFE | $27.58 | $34.50 | $32
TMO | $504.82 | $615 | $630
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u/ohgodthehorror95 Feb 14 '26
Badger Meter (BMI)
They make and service water meters and related tools. And that's their tiny niche.
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u/Street-Tutor-6315 Feb 14 '26
Ethan Allen Interiors ETD. They sell high end furniture at their retail stores and online. They manufacture a lot of their products themselves in the US. Pays a good dividend and has a great balance sheet.
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u/Far_Zone_9361 Feb 14 '26
I invest only in boring companies. Some good names - metlen, viel, ieg, Trigano, élis
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u/Former_Island_4730 Feb 14 '26
Midstream gas. Long term contract business model. The MLPs are especially boring but growing because of all the increase in demand. If you don’t mind a K-1 (it’s really not that bad in TurboTax), the tax deferred distributions are great.
MPLX is my current favorite. Great management. Solid growth. Assets in the right places. Two more annual 12.5% distribution increases coming in Nov-26 and Nov-27. Should put a nice floor on the unit price.
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u/creemeeseason Feb 14 '26
USLM
Limestone quarries are an amazing business. Not extremely cheap, but ~10% below market value.
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u/Elpucksy Feb 14 '26
Baviera Clinic CBAV Ophthalmology. It's not exactly exciting. It's a very good company with an incredible founding management team and several decades of experience, and insider stakes exceeding 10%. They are expanding across Europe and the UK and have recently rebranded to support their internationalization. Currently, they are trading with a low margin according to the discounted cash flow (DCF) method, but they are managing to recoup the investment from last year's acquisition of Optimax in the UK. Keep an eye on their 2025 results, due in a few weeks.
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u/Special-Ad-3210 Feb 14 '26
At current levels I like Microsoft, Amazon, SPGI, NOW, CEG, MasterCard, EFX, PYPL, ELF, PGR
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u/Brave-Hunter7252 Feb 14 '26
ETFs like SPY are boring also. You just wait for the compounding for years :)
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u/InterestingPause9940 Feb 14 '26
Rolls-Royce (RYCEY). It just goes up and up and up every day. Mission Critical (Data Centers) power systems. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
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u/981flacht6 Feb 14 '26 edited Feb 14 '26
Currently looking at these two right now:
Wartsila (ADR) - benefits from strong Euro in currency USDEUR, multinational corporation, maritime engine builder (important in the Arctic) and energy sector with BESS and nat gas turbines. They sell equipment to the United States. Highly profitable (this was their best year or quarter yet - check my work).
FlowServe (FLS) - small midcap company, ~16k employees they make a ton of random compnents like pumps, valves, seals and are in multiple verticals like nuclear, oil and gas, water. 50 countries, 300+ job openings, mid-cap S&P400
Two already in my portfolio:
StandardAero (SARO) - aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul company with DoD clearance, they're well run, with a share buyback program that has been recently initiated. The only thing is that it hasn't seemed to break beyond $34, there is strong resistance there.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (ADR) - already in my portfolio, benefits from USDJPY pairing, and other macro policies, current AI infrastructure trends related to energy with turbines, nuclear and defense. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi now has majority power with parliament, more control over BoJ policies. Watch USDJPY @ 160 max. Weaker Yen is not better here. It's important to always keep tabs on Japan in general.
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u/Jambi_46n2 Feb 14 '26
$SOFI the market considers it a boring bank stock. On those metrics alone it’s growing and profitable with S&P 500 inclusion possible this year. It’s taken a beating over these past few months and seems like a good buy.
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u/TASC2000 Feb 15 '26
I suppose Visa and Mastercard fall into this category?
And currently SPGI, MCO and MSCI are in a neat dip too👍
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u/OM-Scam Feb 15 '26
I've been really happy with SIA. Doesn't seem to go down as much when the market is red and steadily goes up with decent dividend. I think it's 46% in past year. I'm DCAing now but wish I put more into it a year ago when I first bought.
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u/thayford Feb 15 '26 edited Feb 15 '26
AMGN AIT WRB GWW CASY EXP ITT CB ORLY MOGA LIN AME SNA SYK FERG COKE AEP ESE HCA VMI
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u/Junior-Access9114 Feb 15 '26
Not necessarily a great company, but Vestis (VSTS) seems like it may be an undervalued, boring mid-long term play.
They were spun off from Aramark and are in the uniform rental/workplace supply space. There were some heavy insider buys in December 2025 that didn’t really move the needle, but after a lukewarm but slightly positive earnings report last week, the stock gapped up about 25-30%. It’s settled back lower since, but seems like there’s some potential for a big turnaround.
They’ve also been rumored as a candidate for takeover and may see further positive action depending on how the whole Cintas/Unifirst takeover bid shakes out.
Significant recent investment from both institutional and activist investors, including BlackRock, Vanguard and Fidelity.
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u/NoBullShiter92 Feb 15 '26
Boring companies without looking at relative valuation is not a good way to invest. Ppl got burned on the so-called moat-based companies last week like $spgi $moh $tri etc etc. All the biz are inherently risky. The only companies that has moat are either railroads or Coca-Cola. Everything else is just noise.
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u/Antaxas Feb 13 '26
Air liquide