Growth-oriented investors may want to consider the following stocks since they represent businesses with price-earnings ratios below 20 and recorded significant improvements in trailing 12-month earnings per share over the past year.
Freeport-McMoRan
The first company that qualifies is Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX, Financial), a Phoenix-based miner of copper, gold, molybdenum, silver and other metals.
The trailing 12-month net earnings per share were $1.91 as of the second quarter, reverting from a net loss of 40 cents in the prior-year quarter.
The price-earnings ratio is 17.81 (versus the industry median of 14.1) as of early trading on Thursday.
Due to an almost 100% increase over the past year, the stock was at $34.055 per share in early trading on Thursday for a market capitalization of $49.91 billion and a 52-week range of $14.6701 to $46.1.
Currently, the company is paying quarterly dividends to its shareholders. The last payment of 7.5 cents per common share, up 50% year over year, was made on Aug. 2, for a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 0.44% and a forward dividend yield of 0.89% as of early trading on Thursday.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 5 out of 10 to both the company's financial strength and its profitability.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of overweight and an average target price of $43.50 per share.
Bio-Rad Laboratories
The second company that makes the cut is Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (BIO, Financial), a Hercules, California-based manufacturer and marketer of devices for clinical diagnostic and life science research organizations in North America and internationally.
The trailing 12-month net earnings per share increased by 2.1 times to $134.15 as of the June quarter, up from $64.5 in the prior-year quarter.
The price-earnings ratio is 5.83 (versus the industry median of 33.09) as of early trading on Thursday.
Due to a 53.24% increase that took place over the past year, the stock was trading around $783.81 per share on Thursday for a market capitalization of $23.27 billion and a 52-week range of $490.725 to $832.7.
Currently, Bio-Rad Laboratories does not pay dividends.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 8 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 $856.25 per share.
Builders FirstSource
The third company that meets the criteria is Builders FirstSource Inc. (BLDR, Financial), a Dallas-based manufacturer of building materials and services that it then supplies to U.S. homebuilders and consumers.
The trailing 12-month net earnings per share were $5.13 for the June quarter, which, compared to the year-ago quarter, represented a nearly threefold year-over-year increase.
The price-earnings ratio is 10.36 (versus the industry median of 14.53) as of early trading on Thursday.
Thanks to a 65.1% increase over the past year, the stock was trading around $53.29 per share on Thursday for a market capitalization of $11.03 billion and a 52-week range of $29.26 to $55.17.
Currently, Builders FirstSource does not pay dividends.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 6 out of 10 to both the company's financial strength and its profitability.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of buy and an average target price of $67.86 per share.
