The following stocks could be of interest to growth-oriented investors since they represent equities in businesses whose price-earnings ratios are below 20, while their trailing 12-month earnings per share improved significantly over the past year.
Takeda Pharmaceutical
The first company that makes the cut is Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (TAK, Financial), a Tokyo-based manufacturer of specialty generic drugs.
The trailing 12-month net earnings per share increased by more than 4.6 times to approximately $2.87 as of the first quarter of fiscal 2021, up from approximately 63 cents as of the prior-year quarter.
The price-earnings ratio is 13.27 (versus the industry median of 24.87) as of Aug. 10.
Due to a 12.33% drop over the past year, the stock was trading at $16.35 per share at close on Tuesday for a market capitalization of $51.53 billion and a 52-week range of $15.303 to $19.965.
Currently, the company is paying semiannual dividends to its shareholders. The last payment of 40.7 cents per common share was made on July 12, for trailing 12-month and forward dividend yields of 5.1% as of Aug. 10.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 4 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and 6 out of 10 to its profitability.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of overweight and an average target price of $21.80 per share.
Weyerhaeuser
The second company that qualifies is Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY, Financial), a Seattle-based real estate investment trust that manages approximately 11 million acres of timberlands in the U.S., plus others under log-term license agreements in Canada.
The trailing 12-month net earnings per share increased by 6.5 times to $3.05 as of the June 2021 quarter, up from 41 cents in the prior-year quarter.
The price-earnings ratio is 11.55 (versus the industry median of 22.52) as of Aug. 10.
Due to a 25.05% increase that occurred over the past year, the stock closed at $34.61 per share on Tuesday for a market capitalization of $26.39 billion and a 52-week range of $26.51 to $41.68.
Currently, the company is paying quarterly dividends to its shareholders. The last payment of 17 cents per common share was made on June 18, leading to a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 1.46% and a forward dividend yield of 1.95%.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 6 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and 7 out of 10 to its profitability.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of overweight with an average target price of approximately $41.25 per share.
Bunge
The third company that meets the criteria is Bunge Ltd. (BG, Financial), a St. Louis-based farm products company focusing on agricultural commodities and commodity products, as well as packaged and bulk oils and fats. The company is also a provider of wheat flours, bakery mixes and corn milling products. Additionally, the company offers various fertilizers, produces sugar and ethanol and generates electricity from burning sugarcane bagasse.
The trailing 12-month net earnings per share were $13.47 as of the June 2021 quarter, a stark contrast from a net loss of $9.04 posted in the same quarter of the prior year.
The price-earnings ratio is 5.84 (versus the industry median of 19.58) as of Aug. 10.
Thanks to a 68.54% increase over the past year, the stock was trading at $78.65 per share at close on Tuesday for a market capitalization of $11.17 billion and a 52-week range of $43.41 to $92.3828.
Currently, the company is paying quarterly dividends to its shareholders. The last payment of 50 cents per common share was made on June 2. The next one, which will be 52.5 cents per common share, will be made on Sept. 2 for a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 2.54% and a forward dividend yield of 2.67% as of Aug. 10.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 5 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and 6 out of 10 to its profitability.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of overweight and an average target price of $95.56 per share.
