Investing

4 Jefferies Top Value Stock Picks to Buy Now

The higher the market goes, the more dangerous it gets. However, given the alternatives, investors are likely to stay in, and they seem to buy every significant dip. Despite the rush to all-time highs this year, there are some top stock picks that are turning into top value picks. A new research report from Jefferies highlights value stocks to buy this week.

The Jefferies team had truly found some noteworthy companies to buy, and some are Wall Street favorites that for one reason or another were sold off, or have fallen out of favor. We screened the Jefferies list for the stocks with the biggest upside to the posted price targets.

Enterprise Products Partners

This is one of the largest publicly traded partnerships and a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers. Despite the energy slump, Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) once again just raised its distribution 1%. The company maintains a very good long-term position in the market. It provides many of its services on the basis of long-term, fixed-fee contracts, insulating against some of the wilder swings of the commodities that it trades in.

ALSO READ: Why Credit Suisse Sees 3 Key MLPs to Buy Now

One reason the analysts may have a liking for the stock is its distribution coverage ratio. It is well above one times, making it relatively less risky among the master limited partnerships. The company’s distributions have grown for several quarters and are expected to continue in 2016.

Investors are paid very solid 5.75% distribution. The Jefferies price target for the stock is $36. The Thomson/First Call consensus target is $38.70. Shares closed Monday at $27.65.

EMC

This company may be in for big changes. EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is technology’s large-scale storage leader, but new avenues of flash and other storage opportunities are grinding away at the tech giant’s business. The good news for the company is that storage demands are accelerating, and the company’s majority ownership of VMware gives it a virtualization infrastructure solutions product that includes a suite of products designed to deliver a software-defined data center run on industry-standard desktop computers and servers.

While the VMware stock is on the balance sheet, the earnings are not, so the Jefferies team feels that the company may buy the rest of VMware it does not currently own or even consider a merger with HP Enterprise, which is being created by the separation of Silicon Valley hardware icon Hewlett-Packard and will be remade for the growing business of cloud computing, mobility and big data starting November 1. This could add growth and revenues for both companies. The analysts also think NetApp could be a potential target for EMC.

EMC shareholders are paid a 1.69% dividend. Jefferies has a $32 price target and the consensus target for the stock, which has had a lousy 2015 to date, is $29.74. Shares closed Monday at $27.32.

ALSO READ: 4 Top Jefferies Growth Stocks to Buy Now
Mallinckrodt

This company has been on a mergers and acquisitions binge over the past two years, but it got rocked last week when earnings were released. Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE: MNK) is a global specialty biopharmaceutical and medical imaging business. Areas of focus include therapeutic drugs for autoimmune and rare disease specialty areas like neurology, rheumatology, nephrology and pulmonology; neonatal critical care respiratory therapies; and analgesics and central nervous system drugs.

The company just announced yet another purchase. A subsidiary of Mallinckrodt will acquire Therakos, a leading immunotherapy company, in a transaction valued at approximately $1.325 billion. The Jefferies team thinks that the sell-off last week is an excellent opportunity to grab shares, and while they lower estimates they point out that the stock still trades at a very reason 16 times 2016 numbers.

The Jefferies price target is $113, but the consensus estimate is even higher at $125.09. The shares closed Monday at $103.50.

Community Health Systems

This company is a top value at Jefferies and is well liked across Wall Street. Community Health Systems Inc.’s (NYSE: CYH) large asset base provides geographic diversification and scale advantages. Many analysts see Community Health as most levered to the states where Medicaid expansion could be the greatest. It is also more exposed to health care reform than almost any other company in the sector, and coverage expansion under ACA reform may be providing a substantial boost to earnings in 2015 and beyond.

The Jefferies team points out that the stock trades at a larger discount to industry peers, and they think that earnings multiple has room to expand and push the stock price higher. They also point out that company announced it will be spinning out its portfolio of hospitals in smaller markets, which are a drag on earnings. The analyst feels the spin-off will generate $12 of incremental equity value.

The Jefferies price target is raised to $83. The consensus figure is lower at $71.28. The stock closed Monday at $57.31.

ALSO READ: UBS Makes Big Tech Stock Changes in Dividend Ruler Portfolio

By many traditional metrics these may not look like true values stocks to some investors. Yet the Jefferies team has indeed found stocks that at current trading levels offer investors great value and upside potential.

Find a Qualified Financial Advisor (Sponsor)

Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.