10 Cash Rich Companies

All values are as of market close on 2/24/12. Corporations hold cash for a variety of reasons, including timing the price of growth-related assets, running day-to-day operations, conducting acquisitions, holding for future investment or acting as a precaution against market uncertainty. If a company holds more cash or highly liquid assets as a large proportion of its total assets - and relative to its peers - investors may draw insight into the size and scope of a company’s future investments. To get an idea of the companies that are holding the most cash, the CNBC analytics teamlooked at cash and short term investments held by S&P 500 companies, using data from Capital IQ and Thomson Reuters. The amount was compared to the total value of assets of each company. Companies listed in this slideshow are also divided by sector, since some industries by nature will have vastly different cash holdings when compared to others outside their peer group. For the purpose of this slideshow, “liquid assets” are defined as total cash and short term investments held by an individual company. So, which S&P 500 companies are the most cash-rich in their sector? Click ahead to find out! By Giovanny Moreano & Paul Toscano Posted 27 Feb 2012

Photo: Image Source | Getty Images Cash as % of assets: 17.8% Cash as % of annual revenue: 38% Total cash and short term investments: $1.24 billion Energy Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 6.38% Total liquid assets: $90.99 million Other Cash-Rich Companies Devon Energy (DVN): 17.8% of assets Sunoco (SUN): 17.2% of assets

Source: Priceline.com Cash as % of assets: 63% Cash as % of annual revenue: 58.7% Total cash and short term investments: $2.4 billion Consumer Discretionary Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 19.99% Total liquid assets: $25.28 million Other Cash-Rich Companies Apollo Group (APOL): 40.7% of assets Amazon.com (AMZN): 37.9% of assets

Photo: Altera.com Cash as % of assets: 80.3% Cash as % of annual revenue: 166.5% Total cash and short term investments: $3.44 billion Technology Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 26.72% Total liquid assets: $388 million Other Cash-Rich Companies VeriSign (VRSN): 72.5% of assets Analog Devices (ADI): 69.5% of assets

Photo: Expeditors International Washington Cash as % of assets: 45.2% Cash as % of annual revenue: 21.1% Total cash and short term investments: $1.29 billion Industrials Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 12.55% Total liquid assets: $220.1 million Other Cash-Rich Companies Fluor (FLR): 27.3% of assets Masco Corp (MAS): 22.7% of assets

Photo: Wikipedia Cash as % of assets: 50.4% Cash as % of annual revenue: 94.5% Total cash and short term investments: $6.75 billion Financial Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 31.47% Total liquid assets: $4.53 billion Other Cash-Rich Companies BNY Mellon (BK): 47.3% of assets Citigroup (C): 42.1% of assets

Source: Gilead.com Cash as % of assets: 57.2% Cash as % of annual revenue: 118.1% Total cash and short term investments: $9.9 billion Health Care Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 26.16% Total liquid assets: $236.2 million Other Cash-Rich Companies Humana (HUM): 51.5% of assets Waters Corp. (WAT): 47.1% of assets

Source: Lolliard.com Cash as % of assets: 54.3% Cash as % of annual revenue: 36.7% Total cash and short term investments: $1.63 billion Consumer Staples Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 6.87% Total liquid assets: $69.69 million Other Cash-Rich Companies Sara Lee (SLE): 30.5% of assets Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN): 22.9% of assets

Photo: Metropcs.com Cash as % of assets: 23.7% Cash as % of annual revenue: 46.3% Total cash and short term investments: $2.24 billion Telecom Services Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 3.96% Total liquid assets: $25.6 million Other Cash-Rich Companies Sprint Nextel (S): 11.3% of assets Verizon Communications (VZ): 6.1% of assets

Photo: Mosaicco.com Cash as % of assets: 23% Cash as % of annual revenue: 32.5% Total cash and short term investments: $3.6 billion Materials Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 8.57% Total liquid assets: $40.15 million Other Cash-Rich Companies Sigma Aldrich (SIAL): 21% of assets Nucor Corp. (NUE): 17.6%

Photo: Kathy Collins | Photographer's Choice | Getty Images Cash as % of assets: 10.9% Cash as % of annual revenue: 24.7% Total cash and short term investments: $4.35 billion Utilities Sector Averages Liquid assets as % of total assets: 2.05% Total liquid assets: $20.6 million Other Cash-Rich Companies Constellation Energy (CEG): 5% of assets NRG Energy (NRG): 4.6% of assets

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