If you are looking for investment opportunities amid U.S.-listed equities, you may be interested in the stocks listed below, as they have grown their free cash flow (FCF) remarkably over recent years. This should provide these businesses with more flexibility to fund the development of projects and return cash to shareholders.
Wall Street also projects a promising future for these stocks, as sell-side analysts have issued positive ratings for them.
Adobe Inc
The first company investors could be interested in is Adobe Inc (ADBE, Financial), a San Jose, California-based software company.
The below table illustrates that the free cash flow per share has grown by 36.20% over the last 12 months, by 32.40% per year over the last five years and by 19.60% per year over the last 10 years.
Analysts expect the company will increase its earnings per share at an annual average growth rate of 17.50% over the next five years.
On Wall Street, as of April, the stock has 11 strong buys, 14 buys and six hold recommendation ratings for an average target price of $565.63 per share, reflecting nearly 10% upside from Friday's closing price of $515.84 per share.
The share price has risen 48% over the past year through Friday for a market capitalization of $246.57 billion and a 52-week range of $332.57 to $536.88.
Salesforce.com Inc
The second company investors could be interested in is Salesforce.com Inc (CRM, Financial), a San Francisco-based developer of customer relationship management-focused cloud computing solutions for businesses worldwide.
The below table exhibits that the free cash flow per share grew by 1.40% over the last 12 months, 23.80% per year over the last five years and 31.40% per year over the last 10 years.
For the next five years, analysts project that the company will grow its earnings per share by 12.90% on average every year.
On Wall Street, as of April, the stock has 16 strong buys, 25 buys, three holds and one sell recommendation rating. The average target price of $276.33 per share, mirroring an 18.34% upside from the share price of $233.51 at market close on Friday.
The share price has risen by 48.14% over the past year through Friday for a market capitalization of $215.06 billion and a 52-week range of $151.30 to $284.50.
Accenture PLC
The third company investors could be interested in is Accenture PLC (ACN, Financial), a Dublin, Ireland-based supplier of various professional services to businesses worldwide.
The below table shows that the free cash flow per share has increased by 61.60% over the last 12 months, by 15.80% per year over the last five years and by 11.20% per year over the past 10 years.
For the five years ahead, analysts forecast that the company will grow its earnings per share by an annual average growth rate of 9.75%.
On Wall Street, as of April, the stock has seven strong buys, nine buys, 12 hold recommendation ratings and only one underperform recommendation rating for a target price of $298.83, mirroring a 2.43% upside from Friday's closing price of $291.74 per share.
The share price jumped 62.59% over the past year through Friday, determining a market capitalization of $185.44 billion and a 52-week range of $172.57 to $293.28.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any security mentioned.
Read more here:
- A Trio of Stocks With Low 12-Month and Forward PEG Ratios
- 3 Stocks Growing Earnings Faster than Sales
- A Trio of High-Return, Non-Cyclical Stocks for the Value Investor
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