Do you have enough set aside in savings that you can justify investing $5,000 right now? If so, there are a couple of great opportunities out there that won't cost you a fortune and that you can safely hang on to for the long haul. These are also stocks that you will find in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio.
Warren Buffett likes good, cheap stocks, and two that certainly fit that mold are Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY -0.30%) and Kraft Heinz (KHC -0.21%). Although they have been underperforming the S&P 500 (which is up 35% in 12 months), investors shouldn't expect that pattern to continue over the long term.
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1. Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers stock has increased by a mild 14% over the past year. It hasn't been attracting the interest of retail investors, as they have instead gravitated toward stocks that have been doing well amid the pandemic, even high-risk meme stocks. But for bargain-hunting investors, that's a good thing. Although Bristol-Myers isn't struggling by any means, the company is an undervalued investment that could make for a solid buy. Its shares trade at a cheap forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of just nine. That's lower than both AbbVie (which trades slightly higher at 9.3) and Merck, which investors are paying 13 times future profits for.
Historically, Bristol-Myers has consistently posted a profit with net margins of 13% in 2019 and 22% in 2018. This past year was an off-year, not due to the pandemic but because of acquisition-related expenses due to the closing of Bristol-Myers' mammoth $74 billion acquisition of Celgene. The company anticipates that with the inclusion of Celgene and its prized drug Revlimid, which treats multiple myeloma, its earnings per share could rise to $3.38 this year. That would be the highest EPS it will have reported in the past five years and 168% higher than the $2.01 per-share profit it posted in 2019.
With a broader base of products to help serve patients, Bristol-Myers looks to be an even better long-term buy for investors who value sustainable growth. The healthcare stock also pays a yield of 2.9%, well above the 1.4% average you can expect from the S&P 500.
Investing in Bristol-Myers can give you a solid mix of dividend income and capital gains, while also providing you with stability, making it an ideal investment to buy and hold for years. And with its cheap valuation, you will also be at less risk of seeing your investment crash in the event this red-hot bull market comes to a sudden end.
2. Kraft Heinz
Another good Buffett stock to buy right now is Kraft Heinz. It's a household name and its products are staples in restaurants and stores. But with the pandemic keeping many stores under lockdown or restrictions, the company hasn't been performing as well as it otherwise could have. Kraft's shares are up a modest 19% in 12 months but they have dipped of late, and that has created an attractive buying opportunity for investors.
Today, the stock trades at a forward P/E of 15. That's lower than both General Mills and Kellogg, which are at multiples of around 16. In 2020, Kraft netted just a 1% profit margin but that was mainly due to non-cash impairment losses that weighed down its financials, as they did in 2018.
However, what arguably matters the most is cash, especially for investors who are eager to collect the company's 4.1% dividend yield. And with $4.8 billion in free cash flow over the past 12 months, Kraft is performing well and in a good position to continue making its recurring payments -- they totaled $2 billion during that time frame. In all but one of the past five years Kraft has generated positive free cash flow.
Now, with the economy opening back up and consumers potentially looking to make up for lost time and eager to see friends, the restaurant business could be busy, leading to some better-than-normal numbers for Kraft in 2021. The company is already showing signs of recovery with sales of $6.4 billion for the first three months, up 3.8% year over year as Kraft generated growth in most of its product categories.
Besides the reopening play, Kraft also makes for a solid long-term hold given the value it possesses and the above-average dividend.
