You love buying your shirts when they go on sale. And who can resist a buy-one-get-one-free offer? So when our stocks go on sale, why do we bemoan their low prices?
Smart investors like Warren Buffett or Marty Whitman love it when their stocks are suddenly selling at bargain-basement prices. For them, these companies become no-brainer buys.
The investors who populate the Motley Fool CAPS community also like a bargain, apparently. Below, you'll find five stocks whose shares are selling at least 50% below their 52-week highs, but which still earn top honors from our investor-intelligence database. Consider it a BOGO sale on stocks.
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Stock
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CAPS Rating
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% Off 52-Week High
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ATP Oil & Gas (Nasdaq: ATPG )
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*****
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86%
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Manitowac (NYSE: MTW )
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*****
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88%
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Mechel (NYSE: MTL )
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*****
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88%
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|
Mosaic (NYSE: MOS )
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*****
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69%
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|
Titanium Metals (NYSE: TIE )
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*****
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61%
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Naturally, we want you to look a bit closer at these stocks before buying. You can get low-priced appliances in the dent-and-ding section of your home-remodeling superstore, but their quality might not be the greatest. Same thing here: Make sure there's nothing seriously wrong with the company before you plug it into your portfolio.
Take two, they're small
It's not surprising to see an exploration and production company languishing in the aftermath of falling prices for oil and natural gas. Even ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP ) reported lower profits in the first quarter because of the slump. It'd be a greater surprise to find investors who imagine that gas prices will stay low. As oil approaches $60 a barrel again, few do.
That's why the depressed shares of E&P firm ATP Oil & Gas represent an opportunity for future price appreciation. Profits this quarter were naturally lower year over year, as waning demand cut both prices and production. ATP produced 3.6 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in the first quarter of 2008, but just 1.7 million BOE this time around.
Yet with more than $103 million in cash on hand, along with cash generated by operations, ATP will be able to sufficiently fund its capital expenditure program for the rest of the year. It's going to focus its efforts on completing one well and getting its first production out of another. Moreover, it hopes to sell off some productive assets to improve its debt situation and increase liquidity.
At just two times trailing earnings, ATP trades well below most other independent oil and gas producers. Yet its earnings are expected to grow 15% a year over the next five years, giving it a minuscule PEG ratio of just 0.13.
That kind of positioning prompts top-rated CAPS All-Star TSIF to look incredulously at ATP's price:
Debt is high for nearly all Oil and Gas Companies. Debt is bad when credit is tight. OK, I get that. ATP Oil and Gas does have a lot of debt, but they have very good resources that go along with the debt. ATP has stayed out of the expensive exploration business and focus's on the development business. They pay for assets that with good potential that the exploratory companies don't have the assets to develop. They are right over 90% of the time. Their assets are easily broken off and sold if needed. Management believes their debt to cash flow is sustainable and so do I, but feeling their stock is undervalued they are selling some assets. Their revenue for last quarter looks weak because they were transitioning some wells. With two new wells on line and others in process ATP stands to gain because other companies are cutting back capex due to the low oil/gas prices. Eventually supply and demand will tilt in ATP's favor. IN the short run, their wells are some of the more expensive to maintain and transfer the fuel. If oil were to stay sub $50 then profit would be difficult, but I feel this is sufficiently unlikely that I put some real coin in ATP's meters.
Have half a mind
It pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made all from a stock's CAPS page.
Sign up today for the completely free service, and tell us whether these stocks are twice as good at half the price.
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