My Low-Debt List Has Shown A Profit 12 Years Out Of 13

My Low-Debt List Has Shown A Profit 12 Years Out Of 13 by John Dorfman, Dorfman Value Investments

I love to return to stock-picking concepts that have stood the test of time.

One of them is to pick stocks of companies with low debt and high profitability.

Over the years, I’ve published 13 lists of low-debt recommendations. The average 12-month return on them has been 33.6 percent, although none has been that high since the financial crisis of 2007-09. By comparison, the average 12-month return on the S&P for the same periods has been 8.6 percent.

Twelve of the 13 lists have been profitable, and 11 have beaten the S&P 500.

Last year’s list scored a narrow victory over the S&P, with...