Have you ever wondered what the most expensive companies in the US are, on a price-per-share basis? Even if you aren’t, keep reading anyway, because this is cool. I did some research this past weekend, and I’ve found them for you! 10 ultra-pricey stocks, some well-known, some unheard-of by all but the owners. My only requirement was that they be listed on the NYSE, NASDAQ, or NYSE Market. Enjoy!
1) Berkshire Hathaway, Class A
- Ticker: BRK.A
- How much: $212,199.90
- Who are they: Come on, do you really need me to say who Berkshire Hathaway is?!
2) Seaboard Corp
- Ticker: SEB
- How much: $3,296.45
- Who are they: Seaboard is an agribusiness. They mostly operate overseas, and are involved in sugar refining, citrus growing, grain processing, and power generation (?!). Stateside, they raise and process hogs into pork products. They also own containerships and engage in commodity trading. Finally, they have a non-controlling interest in Butterball, the turkey processor that we all see around Thanksgiving. While the company hasn’t paid a dividend since 2012 (having paid the dividend in one lump sum to cover it until 2016) and clearly has never split, SEB is also debt-free. Even more interesting, the company is family-controlled; the Bresky family owns ~75% of the outstanding shares through their wholly-owned holding company, Seaboard Flour. The company also loves buybacks and interestingly chooses to buy most of the shares from the 25% outstanding – are they slowly going private a la Walmart? Even more interesting is that the company recently issued a tender offer for $100 million in shares. Even after accepting all offers in the specified price range, the company used only 50% of that money. The bad news is that the company has been under investigation for animal abuse, corporate welfare abuses, and harsh treatment of native peoples in South and Central America. Something to be wary of. And, as may be expected for such pricey shares, the average liquidity of the company is only about ~450 shares a day. Have to say I’m pretty interested in this company, and will look deeper into it as a possible investment.
3) NVR, Inc
- Ticker: NVR
- How much: $1,366.71
- Who are they: NVR’s a homebuilder. They build single-family houses, condos, and townhomes under the following brands: Ryan Homes, NV Homes, Fox Ridge Homes, and Heartland Homes. The company also offers financing through a subsidiary. They are based in Reston, Virginia. While the company doesn’t pay a dividend, they have a stunning balance sheet compared to other homebuilders, mostly due to owning options on land they want to build on, instead of owning the land directly. Something like 90% of the land they may develop is owned through this avenue, which is excellent in recessions, since they can just say “nah” and let the options expire worthless. That way, they don’t hold undesirable land on their books at the exact time a lot of liquidity is needed. This stock has never split either, and pays no dividend.
4) Priceline Group Inc
- Ticker: PCLN
- How much: $1,158.46
- Who are they: I actually analyzed this company a while back, so I’ll keep it short. PCLN is in the business of online travel bookings. Through Priceline.com, Booking.com, KAYAK.com, and OpenTable, they offer airfare, hotels, and other travel arrangements. Never got around to owning the company myself, but if you are okay with the lack of a dividend, I think it still presents an attractive investment opportunity.
5) Graham Holdings Co
- Ticker: GHC
- How much: $1,063.00
- Who are they: GHC is a diversified media company. The company is known for educational assets via Kaplan Inc and various publishing assets like Newsweek and the Washington Post (which was sold in 2013 to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos). The company is also family-controlled; the Meyer and Graham families own 100% of the Class A shares. Berkshire Hathaway was once a large owner of the Class B shares, exchanging them in 2014 for some TV stations. The company will be spinning off its cable assets as Cable ONE on July 1st, and because of that, I don’t know what to make of it as an investment yet. This is one of only two companies on the list that currently pays a dividend – $2.65 quarterly for a yield of 1.00%.
6) Markel Corp
- Ticker: MKL
- How much: $796.27
- Who are they: Known mostly as a mini-Berkshire Hathaway, MKL is a specialty insurer, operating globally. More interesting is the company’s portfolio of high-quality stocks, most of which we as DGIs may recognize. Holdings include Walgreens, Carmax, Disney, Diageo, and Berkshire Hathaway.
7) AutoZone, Inc
- Ticker: AZO
- How much: $681.67
- Who are they: AZO is an auto parts retailer. While it doesn’t pay a dividend (shocking, I know), the company is legendary for share buybacks, reducing its share count by around two-thirds in the past decade. I seriously considered this as an investment instead of Genuine Parts, but the lack of dividend and pretty high debt level (with a corresponding low current ratio) drove me (heh) to the Dividend Aristocrat.
8) White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd
- Ticker: WTM
- How much: $665.57
- Who are they: WTM is a diversified insurance company. They offer life, health, marine, aviation, mutual bond, property and casualty insurance through the OneBeacon, Sirius Group, and HG Global names. I know fuck all about this company’s finances, but they do pay a dividend of $1.00 annually. That’s a yield of 0.15% – so yay?
9) Netflix, Inc
- Ticker: NFLX
- How much: $657.10
- Who are they: They’re another well-known name, this time in the content streaming space. And really, this is all you need to know about NFLX as an investment:
Eww.
10) Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc
- Ticker: CMG
- How much: $615.31
- Who are they: If you haven’t eaten at a Chipotle, for shame. They’re a fast-casual restaurant, offering pretty damn tasty burritos and tacos. Pretty appealing company, despite the dividend. Solid growth, high margins, no debt, good food, rabid fan base (including yours truly). Wonder if McDonalds could say the same about any of those …
Any other companies I missed?
Disclosure: Long BRK.B, DIS, GPC, MCD. All prices are of 06/22/2015.
4 Comments
Hey,
Can a regular person even buy BRK.A? At the tune of $212,199.90 as you stated, perhaps I can sell my house to buy 1.5 shares 😉 .
Nice list and interesting to see,
-Rich
Redeemed Finance recently posted…Overtime or Bust
Heh, we can dream, right? Apparently Buffett & Co like it because it a) makes great currency for buying companies and b) keeps the stock out of the hands of day traders and those who want to manipulate BRK.A’s price. At least there’s the Class B shares for us mere mortals!
Berkshire sure is a class by itself. Buffett even made some comments about regretting making his company public. Nobody knows for sure if his company would be worth as much, because the s & p 500’s PE is 20, so it could only be worth $20k per share of he didn’t take it public.
That’s interesting, never heard that before. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s true. He doesn’t speak fondly of many people on Wall Street, the day traders, hedge fund managers, and the like. Guess the high share price is a bit of a “go away” sign for them?