There are countless ways to approach investing. Some people buy stocks for the income their dividends provide. Others -- value investors -- are always on the lookout for underappreciated companies. Yet another group likes to allocate its dollars toward foreign investments. But sometimes, a single stock can fit into all of these categories.
Look no further than the technology stock I'm recommending today: Intel (Nasdaq: INTC).
International exposure
It's hard to imagine life without computers. Travel to a country outside of North America or Europe, however, and you'd see that there's still tons of room for growth for technology companies. While the Economic Intelligence Unit believes there was one personal computer per person in the U.S. in 2010, there was only one for every five people in Asia. If you wanted to invest in a foreign firm levered to the growth of technology, you could look into India-based outsourcers Infosys or Wipro. However, international exposure is available in spades, even from a U.S.-based blue chip like Intel.
Value
As the world's leading microprocessor maker in the world, investors have been showing little love for Intel. This provides an excellent opportunity for value investors. Consider that this company just announced record profits, yet still trades for just 9.8 times future earnings. Consider further that the company just upped buyback plans to the tune of $14.2 billion, representing approximately 11% of shares outstanding at today's value. Finally, this company has a paltry PEG ratio of 0.86. That means its P/E is underestimating its future growth.
Income
Sure, capital gains are nice -- but if you're a buy-and-hold investor, you know that dividends can really supercharge your returns. The technology sector is a little behind on paying dividends, partly because it likes to keep what it has for R&D expenses. Intel, however, recently upped its dividend by 16%, and it's now yielding 3.40%. Offering that dividend to investors doesn't hurt Intel's balance sheet too much, either: Its payout ratio sits at just 31%.
Is Intel the best buy in its industry?
While it's nice to see that Intel can please three different types of investors, it doesn't mean much if there are better deals within the industry. To see how Intel stacks up, I broke down the prospects for two other industry leaders -- Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) -- in terms of relative value and dividend yield.
|
Metric |
Intel |
AMD |
TI |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEG ratio |
0.87 |
1.34 |
1.3 |
| Div. yield |
3.40% |
0.00% |
1.50% |
As you can see, Intel has a convincing lead in the other two categories, potentially offering greater benefits with less risk. As long as Intel continues to meet expectations, investors will eventually realize the value lying in their shares. And for an added benefit, you'll get to snap up more shares on the cheap while you wait, thanks to Intel's healthy, outsized dividend.
