Fruth Investment Management

Background

Fruth Investment Management is a smaller U.S. registered investment adviser whose 13F disclosures place it firmly in the value-oriented camp. The firm's curator profile describes it as a "selective value investor" with concentrated industrial exposure — a characterization borne out by the composition of its reported equity book. Fruth does not rank among the mega-managers tracked by institutional databases, and its public profile is limited. What the record does show is a one-year return of +97.2% and alpha of +79.5% against the S&P 500 over the same period — figures that place it squarely in the performance bucket and justify closer attention from stock-picking ETF investors looking for differentiated signals.

Current Portfolio Signal

Fruth's top holding is W.W. Grainger (GWW) at 4.8% — a meaningful overweight in an industrial distributor that rarely features so prominently in generalist portfolios. Exxon Mobil (XOM) at 3.6% and Chevron (CHV) at 2.9% together give energy a combined weight north of 6% in the top 15 alone, a deliberate tilt relative to a market-cap-weighted index. Trane Technologies (TT), Deere (DE), and Tractor Supply (TSCO) add further industrial and agri-adjacent exposure. The inclusion of Mastercard (MA) at 2.8% and Casey's General Stores (CASY)…