Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, industrial gases supplier Praxair
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Praxair's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Praxair facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Danbury, Conn. (1907) |
| Market Cap | $28.7 billion |
| Industry | Industrial gases |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $9.65 billion |
| Management |
CEO Stephen Angel (since 2007) CFO James Sawyer (since 2000) |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | 24.4% |
| Cash/Debt | $48 million / $5.03 billion |
| Dividend Yield | 1.9% |
| Competitors |
Air Products & Chemicals
Airgas |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 97% of the 652 members who have rated Praxair believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star mrindependent, who is ranked in the top 2% of our community, and mookimd.
Earlier this month , mrindependent tapped Praxair as a solid income opportunity:
Stable stocks should look appealing given the uncertain economic future for developed economies. The current dividend yield of Praxair is about 2%. Current ROE is 24% and the stock is trading for 19 times expected earnings. The current payout ratio is 0.4 and the five year average payout ratio is 0.1.
As one of the world's leading providers of industrial gases, Praxair remains one of our community's top plays on ever-increasing emerging market industrialization. In fact, Praxair's three-year average return on equity (24.4%) tops that of main rivals Air Products (17.9%) and Airgas (15.1%), as well as more obvious emerging market stocks like Vale
And if that wasn't bullish enough, CAPS member mookimd lists several more reasons to look into the stock:
-Praxair serves over 25 different end markets in various regions, with over 50% of their revenues from sources outside the U.S.
-Gross margins holding at 40% over last 10 years
-Return on assets rising over 10 year period from
-Strong backlog and pricing power
-High barriers of entry due to the importance of uniformity and reliability
-Lowering overhead costs to (partially) offset economic slowdown
-Diversified customers (e.g. industrial gases used in energy, electronics, chemicals, metals, manufacturing, health care, aerospace and food & beverage) ...
-International exposure capable of driving strong growth in the future
What do you think about Praxair, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!
