BWEL - J.G. Boswell

[benbuffett]

One of the largest farm operations in USA, plus land holdings in Australia. Less than 300 shareholders so you won't find any SEC records. Trades near 1000 per share currently. Has a long history dating back to the 1920's.

Anybody follow this company? Hard to find info.

[LC]

Ran into it a few months ago but I put it in the too hard pile due to the lack of info and ignorance on my part of the farm industry.

[oddballstocks]

Welcome to the world of unlisted stocks.  This is a fairly well known stock.  You can buy a share and get an annual report from the company.  Another resource is King of California, a book about their history.

This isn't that cheap of a stock, but the play here is their water rights.  What type of info are you looking for?  I presume you already have the annual.  King of California details their water battle really well.  I'm not sure how you value the water, I've seen some estimates as high as $3k an acre.

[gfp]

This yahoo group can also be helpful on Boswell -
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/jgboswellgroup/info

Attached is a recent letter sent out to shareholders

[Tim Eriksen]

Welcome to the world of unlisted stocks.  This is a fairly well known stock.  You can buy a share and get an annual report from the company.  Another resource is King of California, a book about their history.

This isn't that cheap of a stock, but the play here is their water rights.  What type of info are you looking for?  I presume you already have the annual.  King of California details their water battle really well.  I'm not sure how you value the water, I've seen some estimates as high as $3k an acre.

I would add that in the past the company required you send proof of ownership in order to receive the annual report. 

The valuation is based on water rights.  Be careful with any sum of the parts valuation.  The California farm land without water rights isn't worth much.  I grew up in the area so I think I have a good grasp of the quality of the land.  Secondly, it is my recollection that the State can interject itself into any water rights sale (if true you would have wealthy SoCal water users versus poorer Central Cal farm worker jobs, those who would object to a corporation benefiting from the sale of water, and possibly environmentalists that would want the water to flow naturally).   A good place to track the value of water rights is the MWD - Metropolitan Water District for southern California, who would be the most logical buyer. 

[yadayada]

if you search on the web, there are some good comments on those water rights, they are not worth very much. Seems like the typical value trap this

[oddballstocks]

if you search on the web, there are some good comments on those water rights, they are not worth very much. Seems like the typical value trap this

Or could be like Western Lime, a company that traded for $5k a share for a decade then received a buyout offer for $50k a share.. sometimes patience is rewarded.

[yadayada]

yeah but if the water assets aren't worth nearly as much this won't be a 10 bagger. Also why the hell invest on the offchance of somemthing like that happening? THere are like 70000 publicly traded company's out there. so for me it is NEXT. congrats if im wrong.

[Hielko]

yeah but if the water assets aren't worth nearly as much this won't be a 10 bagger. Also why the hell invest on the offchance of somemthing like that happening? THere are like 70000 publicly traded company's out there. so for me it is NEXT. congrats if im wrong.

That's exactly why there are bargains in this corner of the market.

[Tim Eriksen]

The other issue is could they structure the sale of the water rights in a tax-efficient manner?  If not you have to include a 35% reduction in order to get what shareholders will receive.  I have owned it in the past but I don't presently.