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"A Very Unique Period of Time" - A Quick Case for Blue Chips

January 28, 2012 | About:
The Science of Hitting

The Science of Hitting

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With so much going on in the macroeconomic environment, it’s easy to run from an intelligent investment approach and instead cower away from equities; the words of an investment guru should hopefully abate some of that fear and help individual investors confidently invest in some fantastic businesses selling at cheap prices...

In a recent interview (here), Consuelo Mack of Wealth Track spoke with Donald Yacktman, who runs the Yacktman Funds; for those searching for a successful investment strategy, look no further: in the past three, five, ten, and fifteen year periods, the fund has beat more than 99% of its’ peers. During the interview, Mr. Yacktman had this to say:

“I’ve been doing this for over forty years, and I can’t remember another period of time where I’ve seen so many high quality, profitable businesses selling at prices relative to the market this cheaply. To give you an illustration, the 30 year treasury today [January 5th, 2012] has a lower yield than many of these companies like Pepsi (PEP) or Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) or Procter & Gamble (PG). That’s a very unique period of time.”

At the close on Friday, the 30-year Treasury yielded 3.07%. This compares to 3.13% for PepsiCo, 3.27% for Procter & Gamble, and 3.48% for Johnson & Johnson; in addition, while the Treasury yield will stay stagnant for more than a quarter of a century, lets look at how these compaanies have faired historically: since 1987, PEP, PG, and JNJ have increased their dividend payouts (per share) more than ten-fold.

As I noted above, it’s easy to step back from the markets while developed markets muddle along and deal with piles of debt; for long term investors, now is the time to buy great businesses and to profit on the short-term blindness of the herd.

About the author:

I'm a value investor, with a focus on patience; my sweet spot is great companies that are suffering from short term issues, and load up when those opportunities become present.

Tickers in the article:


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Rating: 4.0/5 (17 votes)

Comments

pravchaw
Pravchaw premium member - 1 year ago
Given that companies can borrow money cheaply in the market - it makes sense to borrow and buy their shares in the market. This would be one of the best ways of returning money to the shareholders.
The Science of Hitting
The Science of Hitting premium member - 1 year ago
Pravchaw,

Agreed - like Tilson said, Microsoft should be doing this; they are not acting in shareholders' best interests by twaddling their thumbs...
C.W.R.
C.W.R. - 1 year ago
Your article is fairly written, although there happen to be plenty of excellent companies paying in excess of 5% yield as compared to PEP, PG, and JNJ. Also, from what I understand stocks paid much higher dividends earlier in the last century although I don't know what treasuries yielded.
The Science of Hitting
The Science of Hitting premium member - 1 year ago
C.W.R,

Care to list some of those companies? What are the long term growth prospects and competitive advantages/pricing power like for them?
C.W.R.
C.W.R. - 1 year ago
From my current watch-list of blue chip stocks I have located 21 companies that have a 10 year average dividend yield of 5%+.

Argentina

YPF (NYSE:YPF)

Brazil
Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD)
Companhia Energetica Minas Gerais (NYSE:CIG)
Companhia Siderurgica NacionaL (NYSE:SID)
Gerdau (NYSE:GGB)
Tele Norte Leste Participacoes (NYSE:TNE)

Chile
A.F.P Provida (NYSE:PVD)

U.S.A.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)
CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE:CTL)
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

New Zealand
Telecom Corp of New Zealand (NYSE:NZT)

Thailand
Advanced Info Service (OTC:AVIFY)

Finland
Metso (OTC:MXCYY)

France
France Telecom (NYSE:FTE)
Groupe Danone (OTC:DANOY)

Portugal
Portugal Telecom (NYSE:PT)

South Africa
Barloworld Limited (OTC:BRRAY)
Nedbank Group Ltd. (OTC:NDBKY)

Switzerland
Zurich Financial Services (OTC:ZFSVY)

U.K.
Legal & General Group (OTC:LGGNY)
Tate & Lyle (OTC:TATYY)

With the exception of Portugal Telecom, none of the above stocks are near their respective preset buy prices. Therefore I am in no hurry to purchase shares of these world-class enterprises.

I have to thank you for giving me 3 criteria for my fundamental analysis consideration. Although to be honest I have not yet had the time to perform fundamental analysis on these companies.

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