Small-Cap Corner: Oil Services Surprise

In our new feature, "Small-Cap Corner," we'll be taking a look at both popular names and hidden gems from the small-cap and micro-cap universes. Today, we're starting with a micro-cap play from the oil services arena, a group dominated by large-caps such as Schlumberger SLB and Halliburton HAL, the world's two largest providers of oilfield services, and National Oilwell Varco NOV, just to name a few. Today's featured stock is Bolt Technology BOLT, which has a market cap of $110 million, and it should be noted this is not some fly-by-night, pump-and-dump energy stock that one is going to get 500 emails about. As you can tell, Bolt is listed on the Nasdaq and the firm has been in business since 1960. Among Bolt's superlatives are the fact that the company was profitable in its fiscal second and third quarters. In the third quarter, which Bolt reported at the end of April, the company said revenue surged 54% while net income climbed 39%. That's after Q2 gains of over 40% and 15%, respectively. Bolt's balance sheet is sturdy enough that the company initiated a quarterly dividend policy in February. The stock currently yields almost 1.6% and while that may not sound like much, it's more than double NOV's yield and well above Halliburton's yield as well. Last year, Bolt paid a special dividend of $1 per share. The cautionary tale is that while Bolt has recently outperformed its larger oil services peers, the group at large has been under attack as investors have reduced risk across the board. In the past month, the Market Vectors Oil Services ETF OIH is off 7%, which compares to a 12% slide for Bolt, but over the past three months and year-to-date, Bolt has been the better performer. If Bolt can hold support at $12, the stock makes for an ideal speculative play on an oil services sector rebound in the back half of 2012.