Back in February, I took a page from the Buffett playbook and looked at Berkshire Hathaway's
Buffett picked up See's, by then a well-established franchise with formidable pricing power, at a reasonable multiple of 10 times earnings. Arguably most critical to the investment's success, however, is that the business subsequently required that very little additional capital be reinvested into the business. This allowed a staggering stream of owner earnings to flow to Berkshire over the decades that followed.
A screen I concocted back then to prospect for the next See's led me to PetMed Express
I told you I'd bring you additional names with See's-like characteristics, but failed to follow up. Until now. Here are three more businesses that have caught my eye.
Immucor
Balchem
Cass Information Systems
The fact that Cass has a bank subsidiary makes any analysis a little more complicated, but the books look relatively clean compared to most financial institutions. Fools looking for a cheap, proven small cap with long-term promise may want to take a closer look.