Stock of the month for May

With the end of April, it is time again to name the stock of teh month. This time the stock is Shamir Optical Industry LTD (symbol SHMR), and it is a long term growth play. Shamir's pricipal product is the progressive lens used in glasses in place of bifocals or trifocals. These lenses are needed most often by people in their fifties and older. As the population ages, the numbers of potential buyers of these lenses will increase each year. Shamir has a quality product which is well accepted in Europe. Shamir also has the major part of its home market in Israel, although that is a small market. It is also making inroads in the US, although it is third in market share in the US market and far behind the two leaders. Still, Shamir is making a particular effort to enlarge its foothold in the US market and it has been successful thus far in this effort. At its current price of $9.75 per share, Shamir is about ten percent below its 52 week high. In the last year it also paid a dividend of about 8% although the dividends are not consistent over time. this is a stock investment with a long horizon; it may take three to five years for it to achieve its full potential. In the meantime, however, it will pay some meaningful dividend.