Investors may want to consider the stocks in this article, in my view, since they meet the following value criteria:
- They trade with a price-earnings ratio of 20 or below.
- Their earnings and revenue, both on a per-share basis, have improved over the past five years, while no losses occurred in any of the years observed.
- These stocks have positive recommendation ratings among sell-side analysts on Wall Street.
Merck & Co. Inc.
The first stock investors may want to consider is Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK, Financial), a Kenilworth, New Jersey-based global health care company.
The company saw its trailing 12-month revenue per share grow by 5.20% and its trailing 12-month earnings per share without non-recurring items grow by 40.11% over the past five years.
The company has not reported a loss in the past five years.
The stock closed at $91.17 per share on Thursday for a market cap of approximately $230.55 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 16.31.
Merck & Co. Inc. pays quarterly dividends to its shareholders. It will distribute 69 cents per share on July 8, generating a forward dividend yield of 3.03% as of June 30.
GuruFocus assigned a financial strength rating of 6 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 9 out of 10 to the company.
Wall Street sell-side analysts issued a median recommendation rating of overweight for the stock and an average target price of $98.79 per share.
Medical Properties Trust Inc.
The second stock investors may want to consider is Medical Properties Trust Inc. (MPW, Financial), a Birmingham, Alabama-based self-advising real estate investment trust that owns hospitals with 431 facilities and approximately 43,000 licensed beds in nine countries on four continents.
The company saw its trailing 12-month revenue per share grow by 4.60% and its trailing 12-month earnings per share without non-recurring items grow by 3.85% over the past five years.
The company did not report a loss over the past five years.
The stock closed at $15.27 per share on Thursday for a market cap of $9.16 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 8.17.
Medical Properties Trust Inc. pays quarterly dividends to its shareholders. It will distribute 29 cents per share on July 14, generating a forward dividend yield of 7.59% as of June 30.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 3 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and an 8 out of 10 rating to its profitability.
Wall Street sell-side analysts issued a median recommendation rating of overweight for the stock and an average target price of $21.79 per share.
Sanofi SA
The last stock investors may want to consider is Sanofi SA (SNY, Financial), a French drug manufacturer.
The company saw its trailing 12-month revenue per share grow by 2.70% and its trailing 12-month earnings per share without non-recurring items grow by 14.82% over the past five years.
The company has not reported a loss in the past five years.
The stock closed at $50.03 per share on Thursday for a market cap of $124.94 billion and a price-earnings ratio of 19.46.
Sanofi SA pays annual dividends to its shareholders. On May 31, the company distributed $1.747 per American Depositary Receipt (ADR) for a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 3.49% as of June 30.
GuruFocus assigned a score of 6 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and an 8 out of 10 rating to its profitability.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of overweight and an average target price of $60.92 per share.