Central Securities Corp. (CET): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're digging into the mechanics of a true market veteran, Central Securities Corp. (CET), which has been navigating markets since 1929, and you want the straight facts on its current business model. Honestly, what keeps this closed-end fund relevant? It's a lean operation managing $1.775 billion in net assets (as of 9/30/2025) with a razor-thin gross expense ratio of just 0.55% across a concentrated portfolio of 32 holdings. The primary draw for savvy investors like you is often the chance to acquire those assets at a discount, like the -15.47% discount to Net Asset Value recently observed. Keep reading below for the full, no-fluff Business Model Canvas detailing exactly how Central Securities Corp. generates revenue and serves its distinct shareholder base.

Central Securities Corp. (CET) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

Custodian banks for asset safekeeping and settlement.

The safekeeping and settlement infrastructure supports total net assets reaching $1.775 billion as of September 30, 2025.

NYSE American for public trading and liquidity.

• Central Securities Corp. (CET) trades on the NYSE American exchange.
• The reinvestment price for the December 19, 2025 distribution was set at $49.91 per share, based on the volume weighted average price (VWAP) through December 3, 2025.

Transfer agents managing shareholder records and distributions.

The transfer agent function processes shareholder actions, such as the declared year-end distribution of $2.45 per share, payable on December 19, 2025, to stockholders of record on November 14, 2025.

• Distribution per share: $2.45.
• Expected taxable as ordinary income portion: $0.81 per share.
• Expected taxable as long-term capital gain portion: $1.64 per share.

Brokerage platforms (e.g., Charles Schwab) for investor access.

Investor access is facilitated through brokerage platforms where stockholders make elections regarding distributions.

Charles Schwab Corp is listed among the top ten holdings, representing 4.44682% of a portfolio disclosed in a November 2025 report.

Finance: draft Q4 2025 cash flow projection by Wednesday.

Central Securities Corp. (CET) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

You're looking at the core engine of Central Securities Corp. (CET), the day-to-day work that keeps this closed-end fund ticking. It's not about high-frequency trading; it's about deep, long-term conviction, which shows up clearly in their activity metrics.

Active management of a concentrated equity portfolio.

The management activity centers on a highly focused set of investments, reflecting a belief that deep knowledge of fewer companies beats broad exposure. As of the 09-30-2025 Form 13F-HR filing, Central Securities Corp. reported managed 13F securities valued at $1,214,645,353. The portfolio held a total of 32 positions, with the top 10 holdings accounting for 59.05% of the portfolio value. This concentration is significant; the top 5 stock holdings represented 36.17% of the entire stock portfolio as of that date. The investment style leans toward a blend approach, though the value focus is key.

Here's a snapshot of the sector weightings based on the latest available data:

The commitment to a long-term view is evident in the low portfolio churn. The turnover ratio is reported as low as 2.59%.

Identifying undervalued equity securities for long-term growth.

The primary driver for security selection is the value investing approach, seeking companies trading below their intrinsic worth with potential for superior returns compared to the broad market. This activity involves deep fundamental analysis, which results in a very low portfolio turnover, indicating long holding periods. The management team shows conviction through insider ownership, which is a strong alignment signal. The fund's objective is explicitly long-term capital growth, making income secondary.

Key activity indicators supporting this focus include:

• Time Held Top 10: 21.7 quarters as of 09-30-2025.
• Time Held All Holdings: 36.9 quarters as of 09-30-2025.
• Low expense ratio, last reported at 0.48% on net assets.
• For the fiscal year 2024, net investment income was $10,347,000.

Regulatory compliance and SEC filing (e.g., 13F-HR).

As a publicly traded closed-end fund, rigorous regulatory adherence is a non-negotiable activity. This includes timely filing of required disclosures. The latest Form 13F-HR filing reported was on November 12, 2025, covering holdings as of September 30, 2025. The Form 13F File Number is 028-06578. The fund also files Form N-30B-2, Reports Mailed to Shareholders. The management team, including the Vice President & Secretary, Marlene A. Krumholz, signs off on these documents.

Calculating and announcing Net Asset Value (NAV) and distributions.

This is the crucial step where the portfolio's worth is quantified and returned to shareholders. The NAV is updated weekly, typically on Fridays. As of November 28, 2025, the calculated NAV per share was $59.48, against a share price of $50.46. This represented a discount to NAV of -15.16% on that date. Central Securities Corp. has a policy to distribute substantially all net investment income and realized capital gains each year, usually in two payments. The year-end distribution for 2025 was declared on November 4, 2025, amounting to $2.45 per share, payable on December 19, 2025.

The breakdown of the $2.45 distribution was announced as:

• Expected Taxable as Ordinary Income: $0.81 per share.
• Expected Taxable as Long-Term Capital Gain: $1.64 per share.
• The reinvestment price for this distribution was set at $49.91 per share.

For context, the total distributions paid in 2024 were $2.70 per share.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Central Securities Corp. (CET) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

You're looking at the core assets Central Securities Corp. (CET) relies on to execute its investment strategy. These aren't physical factories; they are financial muscle, human expertise, and a deep-rooted history in the market.

Investment Capital is the most immediate resource. As of September 30, 2025, the firm reported total net assets of $1,775,058,609. This figure represents the pool of capital available for investment, directly supporting the objective of long-term capital growth.

The team managing this capital is a critical, non-tangible resource. The depth of experience is significant, with one manager noted as having a tenure stretching back over 52 years. The average tenure for the management team is also quite high, providing stability and institutional knowledge.

• Investment capital, totaling $1.775 billion in net assets (as of 9/30/2025).
• Experienced, long-tenured investment management team with a longest tenure of 52.5 Years and an average tenure of 20.1 Years.
• Portfolio of 32 total holdings (as of 2025-09-30).
• Long operating history since October 1, 1929.

The portfolio itself is a key resource, characterized by its concentrated nature and sector focus. A focus on a limited number of companies allows for deeper due diligence, which is a core tenet of Central Securities Corp.'s philosophy. Here's how the portfolio was structured as of the latest reporting date:

The sector weighting demonstrates where the team is currently deploying the majority of the investment capital. The heavy weighting in Financials and Technology suggests where the management team sees the most potential for long-term value creation, aligning with their objective to own businesses with superior growth potential.

The sector breakdown for the equity holdings is as follows:

• Financials: 35.31%
• Technology: 26.99%
• Communication: 13.60%
• Consumer Cyclical: 9.47%

Finally, the firm's longevity is a resource in itself. Operating since October 1, 1929, means Central Securities Corp. has navigated nearly a century of market cycles, including the Great Depression, which informs its long-term, capital-preservation-focused approach. That kind of institutional memory is hard to replicate.

Central Securities Corp. (CET) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core reasons an investor would choose Central Securities Corp. (CET). It's not about chasing the highest yield; it's about a specific, long-term approach to capital appreciation, often available at a noticeable price concession.

The fundamental value proposition for Central Securities Corp. is its stated investment objective: long-term growth of capital. Income from investments is explicitly considered a secondary factor. This signals a focus on compounding asset value over many years, rather than prioritizing current income generation.

You get access to a highly focused portfolio. This isn't a fund with hundreds of names; it's concentrated, which means the performance of a few key holdings drives the results significantly. This concentration is a double-edged sword, but it's a core feature of the value proposition.

Here is a look at the portfolio structure as of late 2025:

The structure means you are betting heavily on the management's conviction in those top names. For instance, the top holding, The Plymouth Rock Company, represented 24.4% of net assets as of September 30, 2025. The fund's total assets under management were approximately $1.7B as of December 5, 2025.

A persistent, tangible value proposition is the discount at which the shares trade relative to what the underlying assets are actually worth. This is often where the opportunity lies for a patient investor. You can buy the portfolio for less than its stated Net Asset Value (NAV).

• Discount to NAV as of 12/05/2025: -15.47%
• NAV as of 12/05/2025: $59.92
• Market Close as of 12/05/2025: $50.65
• 52 Week Average Discount: -16.49%

This discount means you are buying a dollar of assets for about 84.53 cents on that specific date. Honestly, this discount is a major draw for value-oriented buyers.

Finally, Central Securities Corp. offers a predictable, large payout at the end of the year, which is primarily composed of realized capital gains. This is not a fixed dividend policy, but a commitment to distribute substantially all gains, which results in a significant year-end event.

The latest example of this is the declared distribution:

• Year-End Distribution Declared (Late 2025): $2.45 per share
• Taxable as Long-Term Capital Gain (Expected): $1.64 per share
• Payable Date: December 19, 2025
• Reinvestment Price Announced (as of 12/03/2025): $49.91 per share

The option to receive this distribution in additional stock, calculated using the reinvestment price of $49.91, allows you to compound your holdings without immediate cash transaction costs. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Central Securities Corp. (CET) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

The relationship Central Securities Corp. maintains with its customers, the stockholders, is primarily driven by the public trading of its common stock on the NYSE American under the symbol CET. This is a highly transactional relationship, where interactions are mediated by the stock exchange, brokers, and transfer agents.

Direct communication is managed through mandatory regulatory filings and voluntary reports provided to all shareholders. Central Securities Corp. issues reports on a regular cadence to keep owners informed about the fund's performance and status. You can expect these communications throughout the year.

The reporting schedule for 2025 included:

• Report to Stockholders for the three months ended March 31, 2025.
• Report to Stockholders for the six months ended June 30, 2025.
• Report to Stockholders for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.
• Annual Report to Stockholders for the year ended December 31, 2024, released in August 2025.

The firm has a long-standing policy of paying out substantially all net investment income and realized capital gains, having paid dividends every year since 1955. This commitment is executed through generally two payments annually: a mid-year cash payment and a year-end distribution.

For the year-end distribution, stockholders are given an optional dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP), allowing them to receive the payout in additional shares of stock instead of cash, at their election. For the distribution declared on November 4, 2025, payable December 19, 2025, the total distribution was $2.45 per share. The reinvestment price for this distribution was announced on December 3, 2025, as $49.91 per share, which is the arithmetic average of the daily volume weighted average price (VWAP) for the last three trading days ending on the Cut-Off Date of December 3, 2025.

The mid-year cash payment for 2025 was $0.25 per share, with an ex-dividend date of June 17, 2025, and a payment date of June 27, 2025. Of that amount, $0.04 was expected to be taxable as ordinary income and $0.21 as long-term capital gain.

Here are some key metrics reflecting the relationship value as of late 2025 reporting periods:

For direct inquiries regarding your holdings or corporate matters, the Investor Relations contact is available. The Secretary, Marlene A. Krumholz, is listed as a contact point. You can reach the office by phone at 212-698-2020. The corporate office address is 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10111. If you hold shares in direct registration, the transfer agent, Computershare, can be reached at 1-800-756-8200 for services like changing registration or replacing lost certificates. As of December 5, 2025, the Market Close was $50.65 against a Net Asset Value of $59.92, representing a discount of -15.47%.

Central Securities Corp. (CET) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how Central Securities Corp. (CET) gets its stock information and corporate updates out to the world. It's a fairly traditional setup for a closed-end fund, relying heavily on established market infrastructure and direct corporate communication channels.

The primary venue for trading Central Securities Corp. stock is the NYSE American stock exchange, where it trades under the ticker CET. This is the main point of price discovery for investors. As of December 5, 2025, the Market Close price was $50.65, while the Net Asset Value (NAV) stood at $59.92, resulting in a discount of -15.47%. The trading activity reflects this access; for instance, the Average Daily Volume (shares) as of December 4, 2025, was 29,791 shares.

Access for both individual and professional money managers is facilitated through major retail and institutional brokerage platforms. This is where you, or your custodian, place the trade. The institutional segment is definitely active, as indicated by the Institutional Ownership percentage, which stood at 11.31% as of December 3, 2025. When the company declared its year-end distribution, stockholders holding shares in brokerage accounts were instructed to make their cash election with their broker.

For official documentation and the latest Net Asset Value data, the corporate website, www.centralsecurities.com, is the direct source. You can pull up the latest figures there, like the Net Assets of $1,775,058,609 as of September 30, 2025, with a Net Assets per common share of $61.39. The site is structured to provide easy access to key investor materials.

Here's a quick look at the key data points available directly through the corporate website:

• NAV as of 12/05/2025: $59.92.
• Net Assets as of 9/30/2025: $1,775,058,609.
• Shares Outstanding as of 9/30/2025: 28,913,659.
• Market Cap as of 12/03/2025: $1.45B.

Distribution announcements and major corporate reports are disseminated through financial news wires, specifically Business Wire. This is how the market gets timely information, such as the declaration of the $2.45 per share year-end distribution on November 4, 2025. This wire service ensures broad, rapid dissemination to the financial press and data services. The company defintely relies on this for official news flow.

The following table summarizes the primary channels and associated metrics as of late 2025:

You should monitor the corporate website for the most current NAV, which is updated regularly, and track the Business Wire feed for any immediate corporate actions, like the recent declaration of the $2.45 year-end distribution. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Central Securities Corp. (CET) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the core groups that Central Securities Corp. (CET) serves, which is key to understanding why this closed-end fund trades the way it does. Honestly, the customer base is defined by a pursuit of capital growth over immediate income, but the structure attracts specific types of financial minds.

The primary customer segments for Central Securities Corp. (CET) are clearly delineated by their investment goals and sensitivity to valuation metrics and tax treatment. Here's a breakdown of who is holding the 28.94M shares in the float as of late 2025.

• Individual retail investors seeking long-term capital appreciation.
• Value-seeking investors attracted by the discount to NAV.
• Institutional investors and other funds (ETFs) holding CET shares.
• Shareholders prioritizing tax-advantaged capital gains distributions.

For the value-oriented investor, the persistent discount to Net Asset Value (NAV) is the main draw. As of December 5, 2025, the market price was $50.65 against an NAV of $59.92, representing a -15.47% discount. This discount has been a feature, with the 5-year average discount sitting at -16.4%.

The focus on capital gains attracts a specific subset of shareholders, especially given the year-end payout structure. The declared year-end distribution for 2025 was $2.45 per share, payable December 19, 2025. Here's the tax expectation for that payout:

This means that $1.64 of the $2.45 distribution is expected to be long-term capital gain, which is definitely attractive for tax planning. The mid-year distribution in 2025 was smaller, at $0.25 per share paid on June 27, 2025.

Institutional interest is present, though not dominant, reflecting the fund's niche as a concentrated, long-term holder. As of late 2025, institutional ownership stands at 11.31% of the shares. This contrasts sharply with the significant insider ownership, which was reported at 41.96%. The total investment exposure managed by Central Securities Corp. (CET) as of November 28, 2025, was $1,719.784M.

The overall profile suggests a core base of long-term holders, including those who are patient enough to wait for the discount to narrow or for the large year-end capital gains realization. The fund's market capitalization as of early December 2025 was $1.45B.

You should check the latest 13F filing from November 12, 2025, to see which specific institutions are active holders, Finance needs to track that filing by next week.

Central Securities Corp. (CET) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the operational expenses for Central Securities Corp. (CET) to understand how much it costs to run this closed-end fund structure. Honestly, for a fund focused on long-term capital growth, keeping the expense ratio tight is a major part of the value proposition.

The headline figure you need to focus on is the low annual gross expense ratio of 0.55% on managed assets, which is also reported as the net expense ratio as of the latest reports near the end of 2025. This ratio is calculated against the fund's total managed assets, which includes assets from both common and preferred shareholders.

Here's a breakdown of the key cost components, expressed as a percentage of the fund's average annual net assets, based on data available for the period ending September 30, 2025. Remember, the sum of these components may not equal the reported total expense ratio because the reported ratio includes other items, like leverage costs if applicable, which are sometimes excluded from these specific breakdowns for comparison purposes.

The total net assets for Central Securities Corp. as of September 30, 2025, stood at $1,775,058,609. Applying the 0.55% gross expense ratio to this figure suggests total annual operating expenses, excluding brokerage costs, were approximately $9,762,822.35 for that period.

Costs related to regulatory compliance and SEC filings are a necessary overhead for any publicly traded investment company. For the fiscal year 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set the fee rate for registration of securities under Section 6(b) at $153.10 per million dollars, effective from October 1, 2024. This rate was applicable for the majority of Central Securities Corp.'s 2025 fiscal year operations, though a new, lower rate of $138.10 per million dollars was announced to take effect on October 1, 2025, which impacts the start of the next fiscal year.

Shareholder servicing and distribution expenses are directly tied to returning capital to the owners. For the year-end distribution declared in November 2025, Central Securities Corp. declared a total distribution of $2.45 per share on its Common Stock, payable on December 19, 2025. This distribution amount is a direct cost against the fund's earnings distributed to shareholders. The expected tax breakdown for this specific distribution was $0.81 as ordinary income and $1.64 as long-term capital gain per share.

You can see the structure of the costs clearly here:

• The expense ratio is extremely low at 0.55%.
• Investment advisory costs are a small fraction, just 0.05% of net assets.
• The primary distribution cost for the year-end payout was $2.45 per share.
• SEC filing fees are based on a rate of $153.10 per million dollars for most of 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Central Securities Corp. (CET) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at the core ways Central Securities Corp. (CET) brings in money, which, as a closed-end investment company, is heavily tied to its portfolio performance. The business model here is about growing the underlying asset base and distributing the resulting gains and income to you, the shareholder.

The primary sources of revenue for Central Securities Corp. (CET) are directly linked to its investment holdings, which focus on long-term growth of capital, with income being a secondary goal. This means the biggest swings in revenue often come from the investment portfolio's performance.

• Realized and unrealized capital gains from portfolio investments.
• Dividend and interest income from portfolio holdings.

We have a concrete figure for the top-line performance over the recent past. Honestly, for a fund like this, the realized gains from selling appreciated assets are often the most significant component of the reported revenue stream, especially around distribution time.

The Total revenue (LTM ending 6/30/2025) for Central Securities Corp. (CET) was reported at \$27.06 million. This figure reflects the income and realized gains over the trailing twelve months ending on that date.

A clear illustration of the capital gains component comes through in the declared distributions. For instance, the year-end payout declared on November 4, 2025, provides a breakdown of how gains are passed through. Here's the quick math on that specific distribution:

Also, remember the mid-year payment made on June 27, 2025. That distribution of $\text{0.25}$ per share included a significant portion classified as a long-term capital gain, showing a recurring pattern of returning realized appreciation to investors. The tax treatment is the same whether you take the distribution in stock or cash.

• Mid-year distribution (6/27/2025) included \$0.21 per share as long-term capital gain.
• Year-end distribution (12/19/2025 payable) includes \$1.64 per share as long-term capital gain.

The reinvestment price for the December 19, 2025, stock distribution was set at \$49.91 per share, based on the average VWAP through December 3, 2025. This is the price at which shareholders electing stock would receive their additional shares based on the $\text{2.45}$ per share value.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.