Investing

Credit Suisse Adds New Stocks to Buy to Top Picks List

With the market still in full rally mode, many of the Wall Street firms we cover are adding and deleting stocks from their lists of best buys for institutional and high net worth clients. The team at Credit Suisse is right in step, and in a new research report they have added 14 new stocks to the Top Picks list at the firm. At this juncture in the year, it may be a good for investors to review portfolios and see if some winners, and even losers, need to be replaced.

We screened the Credit Suisse additions to the Top Picks list for the stocks that may have the best upside potential, not only to the end of the year but into 2015. We found five companies that appear to have very good value at current trading levels.

Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ALSN) kicks off the Credit Suisse list and is ranked as a new #1 Top Pick. Allison is the leading manufacturer of fully automatic transmissions and benefits from rising demand for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. U.S. truck orders are growing as carriers continue to invest in replacing and expanding fleets in an effort to ease capacity constraints. A growing economy can also spur along more growth. It is also a company that has consistently been on our weekly insider buying list over the past six weeks.

Allison Transmission investors are paid a 1.8% dividend. The Credit Suisse price target for the stock is $37, the same as the Thomson/First Call consensus price target. Shares closed Thursday at $33.66.

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Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE: IR) is an industrial name that shows up on the top stocks to buy lists at many of the major Wall Street firms we cover, and it jumps on to the Credit Suisse Top Picks list. With the housing market continuing to grow, albeit slower this year, the company’s wide range of portfolio products should continue to sell well. Credit Suisse also sees the stock as a good play on the replacement, upgrade and, ultimately, growth in the commercial and residential air conditioning markets. Trends in these markets have been highly correlated with overall commercial construction and are thus earlier in the cycle.

Ingersoll-Rand investors are paid a 1.6% dividend. Credit Suisse has posted a $73 price target, and the consensus price objective is $68.56. Ingersoll-Rand closed Thursday at $63.16 a share.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) is added to the Credit Suisse list, and it is one of the world’s largest and most diversified medical device companies. While the company’s planned acquisition of Ireland-based Covidien was a deal most of Wall Street applauded as a solid fit for both, some have worried it may fall apart. The gigantic $42.9 billion cash and stock purchase announced in June will be subject to the tax inversion new rules, but many on Wall Street, including the Credit Suisse team, think there are just too many positive synergies between the two giants for the deal not to be completed.

Medtronic shareholders are paid a 1.8% dividend. The Credit Suisse price target is $70, and the consensus target is $73.82. Medtronic closed Thursday at $68.74.

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SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM) is added to the Top Picks list, and it is a stock for investors looking for a more contrarian play in the specialty finance arena. After the company’s recent spin-off into separate entity, SLM is primarily focusing on the growing consumer banking business, offering private education loans, savings and insurance products for higher education. Many on Wall Street believe the gradual economic recovery and declining unemployment rate should further enhance the prospects of the consumer banking business.

The Credit Suisse price target is $11. The consensus target is set at $10.63, and shares closed trading on Thursday at $9.92.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) is the largest oilfield services company in the world, with far-reaching operations all around the globe. It is a member of the UBS focus list and could be poised for years of solid growth despite the recent turn down in oil pricing. UBS and other Wall Street analysts think the company will continue to drive margins on execution, technologies and efficiencies. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and China are expected to be the strongest markets as geopolitical concerns subside, and that should continue into next year.

Schlumberger investors are paid a 1.6% dividend. The Credit Suisse price target is $135, and the consensus target is lower at $120.15. The stock closed Thursday at $96.98.

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The stocks added to the Credit Suisse list are from areas that have either underperformed this year or have been beaten down hard recently. Investors adding blue-chip industrials and energy stocks now may see solid gains as they come back into favor in 2015.

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