Go for These 'Mega Cap' Stocks: Birinyi
Published: Friday, 19 Aug 2011 | 4:43 PM ET
By: Christine Jenkins Tanzi
"Mega Cap" stocks with high yields and earnings growth make for “high quality, fundamentally sound possible ‘buy ideas,’” even in this "ugly" market, said Birinyi analyst Kevin Pleines in a note Friday.
Pleines points to 16 companies within the S&P 100 with dividend yields above 1.5 percent, with Intel leading the list at 4.25 percent and Qualcomm at the bottom with 1.79 percent.
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"Dividend yield on the S&P 500, at 2.25 percent, is higher than the yield of the 10-year US Treasury," he said. "This is only the second period since the 1950s where stocks have yielded more than bonds."
The stock picks are limited to companies with estimated growth of more than 10 percent in both their earnings-per-share for the year as well as their long-term growth rates. For example, Caterpillar is included with an estimated 62 percent EPS growth for 2011, and a 13 percent long term rate. Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman said last week that the company has hired 11,000 people since 2010, and 300 in just the first 10 days of August.
Others on the list included IBM, as well as railroad companies Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.
The note said other criteria for their "attractive" stock buys included Price/Earnings ratios below 20x, positive or neutral trends in their long-term moving average, and stocks that are oversold or neutral within their trading envelope—meaning that the current price is above the low-end of their volatility range.
Also on the list:
"Mega Cap" stocks with high yields and projected earnings growth make for “high quality, fundamentally sound possible ‘buy ideas,’” said a Birinyi Associates research note.
