A Trio of Stocks for Growth-Focused Investors
- By Alberto Abaterusso
Investors who focus on growth may be interested in the following stocks since their price-earnings ratios are trading below 20 and their trailing 12-month earnings per share have grown substantially over the past year.
Merck
The first company investors may be interested in is Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK), the Kenilworth, New Jersey-based drug giant.
The company's trailing 12-month net earnings have grown by 26.3% on a year-over-year basis to $4.52 per share as of the third quarter of 2020, up from $3.58 per share in the same quarter of 2019.
The price-earnings ratio was 17.79 (versus the industry median of 23.69) as of Nov. 20.
Following a 6.11% decrease over the past year, the stock was trading at $80.45 per share at close on Friday for a market capitalization of $203.47 billion and a 52-week range of $65.25 to $92.64.
On Jan. 8, Merck will distribute a quarterly cash dividend of 65 cents per common share for a forward dividend yield of 3.23% as of Friday.
GuruFocus rated the financial strength of the company with a score of 5 out of 10 and the profitability with a score of 8 out of 10.
On Wall Street, the stock has an overweight recommendation rating with an average target price of $95.89 per share.
Lockheed Martin
The second company investors may be interested in is Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT), the Bethesda, Maryland-based aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies company.
The company's trailing 12-month net earnings increased by 11.1% to $23.41 per share as of the third quarter of 2020, up from $21.04 per share in the prior-year quarter.
The price-earnings ratio was 15.72 (versus the industry median of 25.05) as of Nov. 20.
Following a 19.3% decrease over the past year, the stock traded at $368.02 per share at close on Friday for a market capitalization of $103.70 billion and a 52-week range of $266.11 to $442.53.
On Dec. 24, Lockheed Martin will pay a quarterly cash dividend of $2.6 per common share for a forward dividend yield of 2.83% as of Friday.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 5 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and a score of 8 out of 10 to its profitability.
On Wall Street, the stock has an overweight recommendation rating with an average target price of $433.50 per share.
Vodafone Group
The third company investors may be interested in is Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ:VOD), the U.K.-based telecommunication services company with operations in Europe and internationally.
The company's trailing 12-month net earnings were about 10 cents per share as of the third quarter of 2020, representing a positive shift from a net loss of 8 cents per share as of the year-ago quarter.
The price-earnings ratio was 16.47 (versus the industry median of 19.45) as of Nov. 20.
After a 19.4% decrease over the past year, the stock closed at $16.47 on Friday for a market capitalization of $43.82 billion and a 52-week range of $11.46 to $21.72.
On Feb. 5, 2021, Vodafone will pay a semi-annual cash dividend of 53.2 cents per share for a forward dividend yield of 6.46% as of Friday.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 4 out of 10 for the company's financial strength and a score of 5 out of 10 for its profitability.
On Wall Street, the stock has an overweight recommendation rating with an average target price of $22.55.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any securities mentioned in this article.
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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
