Whereas most behind-the-scenes pot stocks are struggling to turn a profit, these two have forward price-to-earnings ratios of only 18.
Are you overlooking ancillary marijuana stocks?
But what often gets overlooked is that there’s an entirely different market operating behind the scenes that’s crucial to the cannabis industry…
Although these “ancillary marijuana stocks” don’t come into direct contact with the cannabis plant, they provide everything from financing and consulting services, to packaging and land for lease.
More important, they’ve mostly flown under the radar of investors, and thus might have more upside left, relative to growers.
Of course, when looking at an industry that’s still in the early stages of maturing, losses are common — even with ancillary marijuana stocks.
For example, packaging and branding company Kush Bottles (NASDAQOTH:KSHB), which just reported a 173% increase in year-over-year sales during its fiscal third quarter, appears to be a no-doubt winner from Canada’s legalization. After all, Health Canada has laid out strict labeling and marketing guidelines that producers and retailers will need to follow. That should, presumably, allow Kush Bottles to secure substantial market share by providing the packaging and marketing materials needed for growers to differentiate themselves, while also complying with Canadian regulations. Yet Wall Street still expects Kush Bottles to lose money, at least through the following fiscal year.
These ancillary pot stocks are inexpensive
However, there are two ancillary pot stocks that are incredibly cheap (both have forward P/E ratios of 18) and might be worth a closer look.
Innovative Industrial Properties
One of the most intriguing ancillary marijuana stocks, and a company I’m personally high on of late (yes, another intended pun), is Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE:IIPR).
Innovative Industrial Properties is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires facilities for the growing and processing of medical marijuana, then leases these properties out for extended periods of time. In doing so, it structures its leases so it can pass along rental increases and property management fees to ensure that it stays ahead of inflation. Then, many decades down the road, it can sell its properties for a profit, should it choose to do so.
Recently, the company closed on two new purchases, bringing its total assets owned up to eight. As of its most recent quarterly report, which only took into account five properties, it more than doubled its revenue to $2.77 million, while reversing a nearly $600,000 net loss from the year-ago period into a better than $600,000 net profit. Plus, as a REIT, the company is required to pay out a majority of its profits as a dividend in order to avoid being taxed like a normal corporation. That’s led to a $0.25-per-quarter dividend, good enough for roughly a 3% annual yield.
The beauty of this business model is that it involves a lot of predictability. Seven out of its eight leases are for 15 or 15.25 years (the other for 20 years), meaning it’ll be easy for investors to forecast revenue and cash flow for any given year. Likewise, the marijuana-REIT model has relatively fixed costs, since it doesn’t require too many employees to maintain the company’s portfolio of properties. That’s generally a recipe for long-term profits and success, which is what makes the company’s forward P/E ratio of only 18 attractive.
The other ancillary marijuana stock that has a reasonably low forward P/E ratio relative to other cannabis stocks is…
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