In a new deep dive into the economy and what could pave the way for the rest of 2015, the strategists at Deutsche Bank provided a list of the major companies in the benchmark S&P 500 index that are not based in the United States. We cross-referenced the list with the Merrill Lynch research data base for stocks that are rated Buy. We came up with four tremendous values for growth investors to consider.
Avago Technologies
This company made a huge move recently when it acquired Broadcom. Avago Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is based in Singapore and not only gets a huge chunk of its business from Apple, but is a big provider in the cloud/hyperscale data center and networking sector. The company supplies Cisco with application-specific integrated circuit (ASICs) for a variety of high-end gear. It also indirectly sells into Scientific Atlanta by supplying integrated circuits for disk drives that end up in DVRs.
The Broadcom buy is a good fit as it also sells a variety of products into Cisco: Switch PHYs and ASICs, million instructions per second processors, cable modem infrastructure. Broadcom also sells cable modem and MPEG encoder (DVR) chips to Scientific Atlanta.
Avago investors are paid a 1.1% dividend. Merrill Lynch has a strong $180 price target for the stock. The Thomson/First Call consensus is much lower at $169.82. The stock closed on Friday at $142.89.
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Ingersoll-Rand
This is another of the many companies that is based in Ireland. Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) is a top industrial stock to Buy at Merrill Lynch, and with the housing market continuing to grow, albeit slower this year, the company’s wide range of portfolio products should continue to sell well. Many on Wall Street also see 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 has an outstanding portfolio of global brands and holds leading market share in all major product lines. The geographic and industrial diversity coupled with a large installed product base provides solid growth opportunities for the company within service, spare parts and replacement revenue streams.
Ingersoll-Rand investors are paid a 1.7% dividend. The Merrill Lynch price target is $75, and the consensus target is $75.15. Shares closed on Friday at $68.99.
Medtronic
Medtronic is one of the world’s largest and most diversified medical device companies, and in January it completed the gigantic $50 billion takeover of Covidien. Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT) is based now in Ireland, and many on Wall Street see this historical merger, probably one of the largest in the medtech industry, as a momentous event, leading to the creation of a unique company that combines the extensive and innovative abilities of both Medtronic and Covidien.
The combined company, with over 85,000 employees in more than 160 countries and annual revenues of $27.4 billion in 2014, will now expedite Medtronic’s three fundamental strategies of therapy innovation, globalization and economic value.
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Medtronic announced in April the start of a new feasibility study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Valiant Mona LSA branch thoracic stent graft system, an investigational medical device designed to enable a completely endovascular solution for aortic aneurysms encroaching on the left subclavian artery.
Medtronic investors are paid a 1.6% dividend. The Merrill Lynch price target is posted at $88, and the consensus is lower at $87.03. Shares closed Friday at $76.71.
Mylan
Mylan N.V. (NYSE: MYL) is a global pharmaceutical company based in the United Kingdom. It offers a growing portfolio of around 1,400 generic pharmaceuticals and several brand medications. In addition, Mylan offers a wide range of antiretroviral therapies, upon which approximately 40% of HIV/AIDS patients in developing countries depend. The company also operates one of the largest active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers and currently market products in about 145 countries and territories.
Teva Pharmaceuticals announced recently it has taken a 4.61% stake in Mylan, an amount that gives Teva standing in the Dutch Enterprise Chamber to commence a takeover if necessary. Teva is in the process of trying to buy Mylan, as Mylan itself has made moves to purchase Perrigo. Mylan executives have sharply rebuffed Teva, stating that its offer price of $82 a share in cash and stock is far too low. Many on Wall Street expect a significantly higher bid to come in.
The Merrill Lynch price target for the stock is $82, and the consensus figure is at $79. The stock closed on Friday at $71.62.
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All of the these companies make good sense for growth investors, and some do have advantages for being based outside of the United States.
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