Helping to get the fourth quarter off to an upbeat start were payout enhancements last week by Thor Industries (THO), Reynolds American (RAI) and ConocoPhillips (COP). Thor, the world's No. 1 manufacturer of recreational vehicles and a major builder of commercial buses, declared a special dividend of 50 cents a share with its regular seven-cent quarterly.

Neutral - Price 13.87 on Dec. 2
by Baird & Co.

FQ1 (October) EPS of nine cents fell short of our 14-cent consensus. The downside was driven by weak margins in the [recreational-vehicle] segment. RV revenue fell 50% to $330.4 million. [Towable-vehicle maker] Thor trades at 18 times (12 times net of cash) our forward EPS estimate. At the end of FQ1 Thor had approximately $299 million in cash and investments. A demographic sweet spot for RVs, [Consumers who are] 55 to 64 years old, is projected to increase 15% (2.9% compound annual growth) during the next five years. Thor makes one out of every four RVs sold. Target: 17. Market cap: $771 million.

18.2

73.1

32

38

38

22.7

cheap, unloved

Downgraded by Matrix Research from Strong Buy to Sell

Big ticket. Mansions on wheels are out.