If you are looking for bargain opportunities among U.S.-listed equities, then you may want to consider the following stocks since they meet the criteria listed below:
- A price-earnings ratio of less than 20.
- A smaller enterprise value-to-Ebitda ratio versus the historical mean of the S&P 500 over the past seven years (which is 10.54 currently).
- Robust dividend growth exceeding the S&P 500, which saw its dividends per share increase at a compound annual rate of about 2.3% over the past three years through June 30.
Hartford Financial Services Group
The first stock that qualifies is The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG, Financial), a Connecticut-based insurer and financial services provider in the U.S. and overseas.
The stock was trading at $61.4 per share at close on Friday for a market cap of $21.93 billion, a price-earnings ratio of 13.09 (versus the industry median of 11.48) and an enterprise value-to-Ebitda ratio of 9.09 (versus the industry median of 7.96).
GuruFocus assigned a score of 4 out of 10 to the company's financial strength rating and 5 out of 10 to its profitability rating.
Hartford's quarterly dividend per share for the June quarter was 35 cents. The trailing 12-month dividend has increased by 11.4% every year over the past three years, versus the industry median of 4%.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of overweight and an average target price of $74.47 per share.
Williams-Sonoma
The second stock that makes the cut is Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM, Financial), a San Francisco-based specialty retailer of home goods.
The stock was trading at $157.06 per share at close on Friday for a market cap of $11.80 billion, a price-earnings ratio of 14.20 (versus the industry median of 20.32) and an enterprise value-to-Ebitda ratio of 9.32 (versus the industry median of 12.57).
GuruFocus assigned a score of 7 out of 10 to the company's financial strength rating and 9 out of 10 to its profitability rating.
On May 28, Williams-Sonoma paid a quarterly dividend per share of 59 cents. The trailing 12-month dividend has increased by 9% every year over the past three years, versus the industry median of negative 12.6%.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of hold and an average target price of $178.58 per share.
Gerdau
The third stock that makes the cut is Gerdau SA (GGB, Financial), a Brazilian steel company with activities in the mainland, North America, and other countries in South America.
The stock closed at $5.8 per share on Friday for a market cap of $9.96 billion, a price-earnings ratio of 11.34 (versus the industry median of 14.67) and an enterprise value-to-Ebitda ratio of 6.07 (versus the industry median of 9.67).
GuruFocus assigned a score of 5 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and 6 out of 10 to its profitability.
Gerdau paid a quarterly dividend of 7.6 cents per common share on June 3. The trailing 12-month dividend has increased by 85.7% every year over the past three years, versus the industry median of negative 16.2%.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of overweight and an average target price of $7.71 per share.
