Stock-In-Trade
Home Safety
March 4, 1998

Reading a news release from Pinkerton's Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: PKT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: PKT)") end if %> is a little like reading a James Bond novel. They talk about security details in Mexico and Europe. They talk about armed guards and jewels in Paris. And last week they talked about their 1997 fiscal year revenues topping the $1 billion mark.

Pretty heady stuff coming from a company that started out chasing bank robbers like Jesse James and the Dalton Gang.

Anyone familiar with the Old West knows all about the Pinkertons. They were "The Law" in a time and place of lawlessness. Today they're a little more sophisticated, a little more discreet. And today they're making lots of money. Who needs to rob a bank?

Today, Pinkerton's is a security and investigation firm that provides mainly guard services for commercial, industrial and financial companies. The investigation services division does such things as background checks on potential employees and monitoring and investigation of security breaches. The company currently has 220 offices in the United States and in 11 foreign countries with over 47,000 employees. They announced recently that they would soon be opening a new office in Paris. Pinkerton's also says that over 80% of the Fortune 500 companies are their clients.

In announcing their 1997 earnings last week the company said that "Revenue for the year increased 11 percent to $1,001,889,000 from $906,247,000 for the prior year. Operating profit for the year improved 11 percent to $26,437,000 from $23,779,000 for the prior year."

Denis R. Brown, Pinkerton president and chief executive officer, said: "The year's solid results reflect strong improvement throughout our U.S. Security and Investigations operations in Mexico and in continental Europe.

"We took action to position our U.K. subsidiary for future profitability and also strengthened our management team in Asia. We believe that the market is recognizing that Pinkerton is positioning itself as a world-class security solutions provider.''

Currently there are 14 analysts following Pinkerton's with a consensus recommendation of "outperform." If you'd like more information on Pinkerton's be sure and check out the company's web site which is chock full of everything from financial tidbits to tall tales about the exploits of founder Allan Pinkerton, the original "Private Eye." Then come back here and talk to other Fools about whether you think Pinkerton's belongs with the Magnificent Seven or the Over the Hill Gang.

-- Trudy Bowen (TMF Hoyden)