Forbes recently came out with their "2009 Investment Guide," in which they asked 17 experts for their one stock pick for the year.
Twelve of the experts came up with long picks and five came up with short picks. Their investment choices span several industries, including pharmaceuticals, restaurants, technology and oil and gas services.
Stockpickr has put together a portfolio of the long investment ideas.
One of the long stock picks is National Oilwell Varco (NOV), which makes and markets systems and products for the oil and gas industry. The stock was chosen by Keith Wirtz of Fifth Third Asset Management. Jim Cramer said that any company involved in oil storage is a good play on cheap oil. However, RBC Capital Markets recently downgraded the stock from Outperform to Sector Perform.
The stock has an attractive price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 6, which is right in line with the oil and gas equipment and services industry average. It also has a good price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 0.94, although it is a bit higher than some others in similar businesses, such as Smith International (SII), with a PEG of 0.55.
National Oilwell Varco is owned by Clough Capital, a hedge fund based in Boston, Massachusetts with over $1.7 billion under management. Clough also holds Weatherford International (WFT), with a P/E of 6 and a PEG of 0.32, Intel (INTC), with a P/E of 12 and a PEG of 1.11, and Oracle (ORCL) with a P/E of 17 and a 0.97 PEG.
Another stock chosen by a Forbes expert is Copart (CPRT). Chosen by J. B. Taylor at Wasatch Advisors, this company provides remarketing services for vehicles over the Internet. Copart was downgraded last month by TheStreet.com Ratings from a Buy to a Hold, due to weak operating cash flow. However, the company increased their quarterly revenue by 34% over the same period last year and its debt-to-equity ratio is an excellent 0.02. The stock has a P/E of 16 and a PEG of 1.02.
Copart is one of the largest shareholdings of Jana Partners, a San Francisco, California-based activist hedge fund managed by Barry Rosenstein, with over $2 billion under management. Jana also owns Aetna (AET), with a P/E of 9 and a PEG of 0.53, Marathon Oil (MRO), with a P/E of 5 and a PEG of 0.52, and Telephone & Data Systems (TDS), with a P/E of 19 and a PEG of 1.20.
To review and track all the long stock ideas, check out this portfolio on Stockpickr.
Posted on Jan. 5, 2009
