4 insider favorites for 2012
These companies have been buying back tons of their own stock, and the trend is likely to continue this year.
By David Fried, The Buyback Letter
Our Buyback Premium Portfolio is beating the S&P 500 by more than 30% since its inception in 2000. Here's a look at four of our recent additions to this portfolio:
ConocoPhillips (COP) is one of the largest integrated energy companies in the U.S. and a worldwide leader in refining. It has extensive oil and gas reserves, which will increase in value as energy prices rise.
The stock's 52-week range is $58.65 to $81.80. The earnings estimate for 2011 is $8.63 per share and for 2012 is $8.39 per share. The annual dividend is $2.64 per share, which yields 3.6%.
Conoco has been a robust repurchaser over the years. The company has reduced shares outstanding in the last 12 months by 9.6%.
Seagate Technology (STX) is the worldwide leader in hard disk drives. Extensive flooding last fall in Thailand -- the site of numerous factories for many tech manufacturers and suppliers -- has impacted the industry. Major manufacturers reported that the global supply of hard disk drives would be seriously affected, possibly leading to shortages.
However, Seagate just raised its revenue outlook for its fiscal second and third quarters, saying the impact from the Thailand flooding wasn't as bad as expected, which should give it an advantage over rivals.
Seagate reported preliminary second-quarter revenue of $3.1 to $3.2 billion, compared to a consensus of $2.81 billion. For the third quarter, Seagate projects revenue of $4.2 to $4.5 billion, compared to a consensus of $3.62 billion. Seagate reduced shares outstanding by 9.7% in the past 12 months.
Third-quarter income was $50 million ($1.91 per share), compared to $42 million ($1.48 per share) in the same period the prior year. In the last 12 months, management has reduced shares outstanding by 5.2%.
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) bottles and sells Coca-Cola drinks in Europe. It is the third largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world.
Although it is hard to imagine that the ubiquitous Coke -- the world's most valuable brand -- hasn’t already flooded the globe, CCE has recently announced plans to invade the Middle East by buying half the equity in the beverage business of Saudi Arabia-based Aujan Industries.
The Middle East is considered a high-growth region, with the "highest rates of non-alcoholic ready-to-drink per-capita consumption," according to CCE execs.
Earnings per share are anticipated to rise 10% to 12% in 2012, with a 5% to 9% increase expected in revenue.
CCE has been a consistent repurchaser, with $1 billion approved in buybacks in 2011 and another $500 million expected in 2012. It has reduced shares outstanding by a whopping 7.9% in the last 12 months.
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