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Jefferies Raises Price Targets on 3 Top Growth Stocks to Buy Now
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You can feel the sluggishness in the market hanging like the late summer humidity. With traders and Wall Street professionals slowly slipping off for vacation, the very perceptible slowdown is upon us. One good thing for investors during this very slow month is some stock gems can be found while others are away. A new research report from Jefferies zeroes in on top new growth stocks to buy.
The Jefferies team also initiated coverage of some recent initial public offerings, but we are more drawn to three other calls that could make very good sense for growth stock investors looking to add to portfolios. All three are rated Buy, and they all get the price target moved higher.
Acadia Healthcare
This company could have a revenue explosion over the next three years, if the Jefferies team is right. Acadia Healthcare Company Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHC) is a provider of inpatient behavioral health services. It operates a network of 226 behavioral health facilities, with approximately 9,200 beds in 37 states, the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico. Acadia provides psychiatric and chemical dependency services to its patients in a variety of settings, including inpatient psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, outpatient clinics and therapeutic school-based programs.
The company released outstanding second-quarter numbers, and the rest of the year looks very solid. For the quarter, revenue increased a stunning 112.2% to $453.7 million from the year-ago quarter. Income from continuing operations was $33.8 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2015, up from with $22.5 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2014.
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The Jefferies team reviewed everything after the stellar earnings and came to the conclusion that the firm’s price target and estimates needed to go higher. They also think that revenues at the company can double in three years, owing to not only strong organic growth, but potential acquisitions.
The Jefferies price target jumps to $100 from $88. The Thomson/First Call consensus target is $93.54. The stock closed Friday at $81.02.
Eros International
Here too, Wall Street could be way off-base on the upside potential. Eros International PLC (NYSE: EROS) is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. It became the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has experience of over three decades in establishing a global platform for Indian cinema, and it has an extensive and growing movie library of over 2,300 films, which include Hindi, Tamil, and other regional language films, for home entertainment distribution.
The Jefferies team is bullish on the company’s Eros Now platform, which is a leading on-demand Bollywood entertainment network accessible anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. ErosNow offers its 26.5 million plus registered users the promise of endless entertainment, hosting the largest library of films, as well as premium television shows, music videos and audio tracks. Jefferies thinks the platform alone could be worth as much as $17 per share.
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Jefferies raises the price target to $40 from $26, while the consensus target is $38.17. Shares closed on Friday at $36.23.
WisdomTree Investments
This company is the real up-and-comer in the exchange traded fund (ETF) business and it is carving itself out an outstanding share with many specialized ETF offerings. Wisdom Tree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) continues to benefit from the movement toward ETFs. This is especially true with the specialized currency hedged products, with the potential for significant uptake in interest rate hedged products.
Wisdom Tree is run by Jonathan Steinberg, the son of famous Wall Street financier Saul Steinberg. He is also married to Maria Bartiromo, who became very famous on CNBC and now works for the Fox Business Network. Steinberg has a long and very distinguished ETF background, going back to the products’ infancy.
The Jefferies team cites the strong inflows, which they think could potentially make current estimates conservative, the company’s solid position in currency hedging and rising rate products, and the overall trend in the market for use of ETFs as positives going forward.
Wisdom Tree investors are paid a 1.30% divided. The Jefferies price target is raised to $31 from $23, and the consensus figure is at $27. Shares closed Friday at $24.58.
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The Jefferies analysts have zeroed in on some top growth stocks to buy that are not part of overcrowded trades or momentum hype. They are all posting strong earnings and could provide growth stock investors some serious upside potential.
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