Wall Street Recommends This Trio of Low Price-Book Stocks
Investors who want to enhance their possibilities to discover high-quality companies may find value in searching for stocks whose market capitalization surpasses $5 billion, but that still trade at not more than 1.5 times the book value.
In addition to meeting the above criteria, these companies have positive recommendation ratings from Wall Street sell-side analysts.
Archer-Daniels-Midland
The first company to consider is Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM). Shares of the Chicago-based multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation closed at $45.12 per unit on Jan. 21 for a market cap of $25.12 billion.
The stock's price-book ratio of 1.33 is higher than the industry median of 1.46. The share price rose 3% in the past year through Tuesday. The 52-week range is $36.45 to $47.20.
The company has a GuruFocus rating of 5 out of 10 for both its financial strength and profitability.
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has paid dividends for more than three decades. Currently, the company pays a quarterly dividend of 35 cents per common share which, based on Tuesday's closing price, produces a forward dividend yield of 3.09% and a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 3.08%.
With 9.34% of outstanding shares, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co is the company's largest top fundholder, followed by Vanguard Group Inc with 8% and State Street Corp with 6.58%.
Cenovus Energy
The second company to consider is Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE). Shares of the Canadian developer, producer and marketer of crude oil and natural gas liquids closed at $9.14 per unit on Tuesday for a market capitalization of $11.26 billion.
The stock has a price-book ratio of 0.76, which is more compelling than the industry median of 1.0. The share price increased by 21% in the past year through Tuesday. The 52-week range is $7.23 to $10.82.
The stock has a GuruFocus financial strength rating of 4 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 5 out of 10.
The company has been paying dividends for a decade. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of 6.3 cents in Canadian dollars (approximately 4.8 cents in U.S. Dollars) per common share, which generates a forward dividend yield of 2.07% and a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 1.77% as of Jan. 21.
With 16.93% of outstanding shares, ConocoPhillips is the company's largest top fundholder, followed by FMR LLC with 7.54% and Harris Associates LP with 4.85%.
Cousins Properties
The third company to consider is Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ). Shares of the Atlanta, Georgia-based fully integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust traded at $41.54 at close on Tuesday for a market capitalization of $6.1 billion.
The stock's price-book ratio of 1.42 is higher than the industry median of 1.19. The share price rose 22% in the past year through Tuesday. The 52-week range is $32.89 to $41.95.
The stock has a GuruFocus financial strength rating of 4 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 6 out of 10.
Cousins Properties has distributed quarterly dividends for more than three decades. Currently, the company pays a 29 cents quarterly cash dividend per common share, which produces a forward dividend yield of 2.78% and trailing 12-month dividend yield of 2.76% as of Jan. 21.
The Vanguard Group Inc is the company's largest institutional holder with 85.86% of outstanding shares, followed by Principal Financial Group Inc with 37.26% and State Street Corp with 31.12%.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any securities mentioned.
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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
