Actions speak louder than words, as the saying goes. So why does the media focus so much attention on what Wall Street says about companies, instead of what it does with them?
Luckily for Wall Street watchers, the Internet brings us MSN Money's list of companies the institutions are buying. True, we should be as skeptical of Wall Street's actions as we are of its words. But when the 81,000-plus lay and professional investors in Motley Fool CAPS agree with the Street's opinions, it might be time for some buying.
Here's the latest edition of Wall Street's Wish List, enhanced with CAPS investors' opinions of the companies involved.
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Stock
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Currently Fetching
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CAPS Rating
(Out of 5)
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DG FastChannel (:DGIT)
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$23.36
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****
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MTC Technologies (NASDAQ:MTCT)
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$23.25
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**
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Spark Networks (AMEX:LOV)
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$5.65
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**
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Origin Agritech (NASDAQ:SEED)
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$10.91
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**
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Delta Petroleum (NASDAQ:DPTR)
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$20.89
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**
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Companies selected from the "Institutional Ownership Up Last Month" list published on MSN Money on the Saturday following close of trading last week. Current pricing also from MSN Money on the same date. CAPS ratings from Motley Fool CAPS.
Wall Street vs. Main Street
Main Street seems underwhelmed with Wall Street's favorite stocks this week. It's panning the majority of the professionals' picks and giving only one above-average marks. That one: DG FastChannel, which is, according to its Yahoo! profile, a provider of "digital media delivery services to the advertising and broadcast industries" to about "5,000 advertisers and agencies, as well as approximately 21,000 online radio, television, cable, network, and print publishing destinations."
The bull case for DG FastChannel
There isn't much of a case so far. While 75 CAPS players have chimed in on the company, only eight have penned pitches outlining their thoughts on DG.
Of these, nearly as many investors loathe the stock as like it, and the best pitch of all comes not from a bull but a bear -- WSHamlet, who warns:
Current growth has been from acquisition and stock manipulation. [Opportunity] in core business is maxed out. Short term, client defections continue [because of] unresolved, systemic service issues. Management earns low marks.
Build-a-bull, anyone?
Hmm. So what's there to like about the stock? I took a closer look for myself, and here's what I've come up with.
First, the company's nosebleed price-to-earnings ratio of 41 is deceptive. DG generates significantly higher (55%) free cash flow than it reports as net income. Free cash flow came to $14 million over the past 12 months, giving DG a price-to-FCF ratio of 26. That's still not cheap, but relative to the company's projected 22% growth rate, it's at least cheaper.
The company could find further growth from the Vyvx advertising distribution business, which it bought from Level 3 Communications (Nasdaq: LVLT ) last year. And the way I read DG's business description -- it "offers online creative research solutions consisting of an online database of content and credits of U.S. television commercials" -- I see the wild-card possibility of a buyout. Seems to me that DG could fall into the sights of Macrovision (Nasdaq: MVSN ) , which has been buying up just such businesses in recent years.
Time to chime in
See how simple it is to write a CAPS pitch? Why, to paraphrase the GEICO commercials, "It's so easy, a bull could do it." Now it's your turn. If you have an inkling why Wall Street's so enthused about DG FastChannel, come on over to Motley Fool CAPS and clue us in.
Motley Fool CAPS: It's fun, it's free, and it just might make you famous.
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