Growth-oriented investors could be interested in 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.
National Grid PLC
The first company that qualifies is National Grid PLC (NGG, Financial), a London-based transmitter and distributor of electricity and natural gas.
The trailing 12-month net earnings per share were 0.466 British pounds ($0.640) as of the three months ended March 31, growing from £0.368 in the prior-year quarter.
The price-earnings ratio is 19.48 (versus the industry median of 17.09) as of early trading on Monday.
Following a 2.34% increase over the past year, the stock traded at $62 per share in early trading on Monday for a market capitalization of $44.85 billion and a 52-week range of $55.89 to $68.49.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 3 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 and an average target price of $71.83 per share.
Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest guru shareholder of the company with 0.73% of total shares outstanding. He is followed by BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/ with 0.42% and FEDERATED INVESTORS INC /PA/ with 0.25% of shares outstanding.
DISH Network Corp
The second company that makes the cut is DISH Network Corp (DISH, Financial), an Englewood, Colorado-based provider of pay-tv services in the U.S.
The trailing 12-month net earnings per share increased by nearly 84% to $4.15 as of the June quarter, up from $2.26 as of the prior-year quarter.
The price-earnings ratio is 10.40 (versus the industry median of 19.46) as of early trading on Monday.
After a 64% increase that occurred over the past year, the stock was trading around $43.50 per share on Monday for a market capitalization of $22.97 billion and a 52-week range of $24.51 to $47.05.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 3 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 $52.17 per share.
Among the top fund holders of the company, Dodge & Cox is the largest with 6.78% of shares outstanding, followed by VANGUARD GROUP INC with 4.97% and EAGLE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC with 3.60%.
DaVita Inc
The third company that matches the criteria is DaVita Inc (DVA, Financial), a Denver, Colorado-based operator of outpatient dialysis centers serving more than 204,000 patients in the U.S. and more than 320 outpatient dialysis centers located overseas serving approximately 36,700 patients. The company also provides acute inpatient dialysis services across 900 hospitals located in the US.
The trailing 12-month net earnings per share were $7.80 as of the June 2021 quarter, which, compared to the year-ago quarter, represented a nearly 23% year-over-year increase.
The price-earnings ratio is 14.82 (versus the industry median of 28.81) as of early trading on Monday.
Following a 24.3% increase over the past year, the stock was trading around $111.65 per share on Monday for a market capitalization of $11.66 billion and a 52-week range of $84.14 to $136.48.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 3 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and 9 out of 10 to its profitability.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of hold and an average target price of $141.63 per share.
Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder of the company with 33.99% of total shares outstanding. He is followed by VANGUARD GROUP INC with 7.65% and BlackRock Inc. with 5.52%.
