Atrion (ATRI) Mentioned as Buffet-style stock in Barron's Online Article

In its "Stocks to Watch" column (click on the title of this post to go to the article: you likely will need a password to Barron's), Barron's online highlighted the musings of Credit Suisse strategist Victor Lin, as he sought to divine what Warren Buffet would buy in the current market if building a portfolio from the ground up. I have, though, reproduced the article on the Yahoo! message board for Atrion which is populated by a very intelligent group of long-timers

Without further comment about any of the names chosen, the article listed Atrion (ATRI) as one of those stocks, including it properly in the Healthcare sector. The methodology focuses on each company's earnings record, management, and return on invested capital.

As a side note, ATRI this week declared a special dividend of $3 a share to supplement the company's regular $0.42/share quarterly dividend. The shares are trading hands these days in the upper $160s, having traded this past week at over $170. ATRI's $3 special dividend comes on top of the $6 special dividend paid early in 2010 which was declared in late 2009. ATRI paid in excess of $10 in cash dividends per share in 2010 but remains debt free and cash-rich.

I expect ATRI earnings to slightly exceed $10 a share in 2010, as full diluted e.p.s. for the first nine months of 2010 were $7.65 per share. In 2011 I anticipate earnings in the $11.50-$11.75/share range.

The thinly-traded shares have been one of the past decade's great performers, backed by consistently superior operating and financial performance and shareholder-friendly activities.