One of the hallmarks of improved investor sentiment is when folks are willing to pay ever greater premiums for equities in expectation of future profit growth. And since the market started rallying from its early March lows, it's clear that sentiment seems to be improving, at least in certain corners of the market. One indicator of improved sentiment is the rise in forward price-to-earnings multiples. Forward P/E is derived by dividing a company's share price by analysts' average estimate for future earnings per share; for the 500 stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX), this ratio has risen to 16 from 13 in March, according to The Wall Street Journal Market Data Group. Such growth is a clear indication that investors are starting to shake off the shock of last year's meltdown and have regained some appetite for risk, says Hank Smith, the chief investment officer of equity at Haverford Investments in Haverford, Pa. As risk appetite grows, Smith says, many bigger, "safer" shares have been left in the dust; that's keeping a lid on the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU). The forward P/E on this bastion of the bluest of blue-chip stocks is less than 14, down from nearly 18 in March, according to Dow Jones Indexes. In other words, as the broader market has gotten more expensive, the Dow has become cheaper. Such low valuations could lead one to believe that the Dow is just chock-full of blue-chip bargains. In some cases, that's true. But sometimes cheap stocks are a steal, and sometimes they're cheap for a reason. Here is a look at the Dow's cheapest stocks, as measured by forward P/E, including an assessment as to whether these inexpensive bets are likely to become investor darlings or dogs in the next 12 to 18 months.
Great Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2014:ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. (CKSW)
ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. provides workforce and service management software products and solutions. It offers service optimization suite of solutions, including ClickSchedule that enables companies to optimize service scheduling and routing; ClickAnalyze, which provides reporting, monitoring, and service business analytics; ClickMobile that offers wireless workforce management for monitoring field workforce activities and reducing the labor of dispatching personnel; and ClickLocate that captures the location information of a field service engineer and vehicle, and integrates it with ClickSchedule for use in optimized scheduling. The company?s service optimization suite also includes ClickContact that enables self-service appointment booking, order updating, automatic customer notifications, and customer satisfaction surveying; ClickRoster, which provides interactive and automated workforce shift planning; ClickPlan that offers workforce planning for staffing and deployment of the field workforce; and ClickForecast, which provides field service workload forecasting to companies. In addition, it offers installation, maintenance, repair, and consulting and support services that encompass order management, optimized scheduling, and operational reports for small and mid-sized companies; and Service Tycoon, a Web-based software-as-a-service application for small and medium sized service businesses. ClickSoftware Technologies serves organizations in the utilities and energy, telecommunications, retail, insurance, high-technology, computer and office equipment, industrial equipment, medical equipment, building automation, public security, and home services sectors. The company sells its products through direct sales force located in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region, as well as through reseller agreements with partners. ClickSoftware Technologies was founded in 1979 and is based in Petach Tikva, Israel.Great Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2014:Helios Advantage Income Fund Inc. (HAV)
Helios Advantage Income Fund, Inc. is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Brookfield Investment Management Inc. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It invests a majority of its assets in below investment grade debt securities, which are bonds rated Ba1 or lower by Moody's Investors Service, Inc., BB+ or lower by Standard & Poor's Ratings Group. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Barclays Capital U.S. Corporate High Yield Index and the Barclays Capital Ba U.S. High Yield Index. It was formerly known as RMK Advantage Income Fund, Inc. Helios Advantage Income Fund, Inc. was formed on November 8, 2004 and is domiciled in the United States.Great Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2014:China Valves Technology Inc. (CVVT)
China Valves Technology, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in developing, manufacturing, and selling low, medium, and high-pressure metal valves for customers in the electricity, petroleum, chemical, water, gas, nuclear power station, and metal industries in China. The company?s product categories include high pressure and high temperature valves for power station units; valves for long distance petroleum and gas pipelines, and sewage; special valves for chemical lines; and large valves for water supply pipe networks. Its products comprise gate, globe, check, throttle, butterfly, ball, safety, water pressure test, vacuum, and extraction check valves. The company markets its products through regional agents and distributors. China Valves Technology, Inc. has a strategic cooperation frame agreement with Dongfang Electric Corporation for the development of high-end valves. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Kaifeng, the People's Republic of China.Advisors' Opinion:
By Robert Hsu At 2011-9-13
China Valves Technology (NASDAQ: CVVT) recently announced that its subsidiary, Able Delight Valve, has been certified as a qualified supplier of China Nuclear Power Engineering. This is CVVT’s second subsidiary to receive this certification.
This is a nice milestone for the company as CVVT continues to gain market share in the nuclear power industry. The demand for nuclear power applications is growing but the inspection of prospective suppliers is strict — and the company believes that the addition of Able Delight as a qualified supplier will become another catalyst for rapid growth in the near future. CVVT is a buy under $10.50.
Great Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2014:China North East Petroleum Holdings Limited (NEP)
China North East Petroleum Holdings Limited engages in the exploration and production of crude oil in northern China. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 295 producing wells with proven reserves of 5,476,200 barrels of crude oil at Qian?an 112, Hetingbao 301, Daan 34, and Gudian 31 oilfields. The company, through its subsidiary, Song Yuan Tiancheng Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd., provides contract land drilling and other oilfield services for state-owned and non-state-owned oil companies. China North East Petroleum Holdings Limited is headquartered in Song Yuan City, the People?s Republic of China.Great Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2014:Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET)
Investors Real Estate Trust, a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the ownership and operation of income-producing real estate properties in the United States. It owns multi-family residential properties and commercial office, medical, industrial, and retail properties located primarily in the upper midwest states of Minnesota and North Dakota. As of April 30, 2008, the company operated a real estate portfolio of 72 multi-family residential; 65 office; 48 medical; 17 industrial; and 33 retail properties. Investors Real Estate Trust has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As a REIT, the trust is not subject to federal corporate income taxes, if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Minot, North Dakota with additional offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Omaha, Nebraska; and Kansas City, Kansas, and St. Louis, Missouri.Great Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2014:BGC Partners Inc. (BGCP)
BGC Partners, Inc. operates as a financial intermediary to the financial markets specializing in the brokering of various financial products. It provides electronic marketplaces, including government bond markets, spot foreign exchange, foreign exchange options, corporate bonds, and credit default swaps in various financial markets through its eSpeed- and BGC Trader- branded trading platform which can be accessed through its high speed data network, over the Internet, or third party communication networks. The company?s brokerage services include trade execution, broker-dealer services, clearing, processing, information, and other back office services, as well as cover various products, including fixed income securities, interest rate swaps, foreign exchange, equities, equity derivatives, credit derivatives, commodities, futures, and structured products. It also provides financial technology solutions, market data, and analytics related to financial instruments and markets. In addition, the company offers customized screen-based market solutions, which enables its clients to develop a marketplace, trade with their customers, issue debt, trade odd lots, access program trading interfaces, and access its network and intellectual property. Further, it licenses intellectual property portfolio and software solutions to various financial markets participants; and provides software development, software maintenance, customer support, infrastructure, and internal technology services to support electronic trading platforms. The company serves banks, broker-dealers, investment banks, trading firms, hedge funds, governments, investment firms, professional trading firms, futures commission merchants, and other professional market participants and financial institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and other Americas. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in New York, New York.Great Cheap Stocks To Invest In 2014:EarthLink Inc. (ELNK)
EarthLink, Inc. provides communications services to individual and business customers in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Services and Business Services. The Consumer Services segment offers Internet access and related value-added services. It provides dial-up Internet and narrowband access, broadband access, and voice-over-Internet-protocol services, as well as value-added services that include products for protection, communication, and performance, such as security products, premium email only, home networking, email storage, and Internet call waiting. This segment offer its products and services primarily through its call centers, search engine marketing, affinity marketing partners, resellers, and marketing alliances. The Business Services segment offers integrated communications services, such as secure IP-based networks, virtual private networks, Internet access, local telephone and long distance services, enhanced services, access trunks, private line services, asynchronous transfer mode/frame relay services, and mobile data and voice services, as well as installation, managed network, remote access, and disaster recovery services. It also provides wholesale services comprising broadband transport services, including private line, Ethernet private line, and wavelength services; local communications and local dial tone communications services; live and automated operator, and directory assistance services; and dedicated Internet access services and direct connectivity. In addition, this segment leases server space and provides Web hosting services that enable customers to build and maintain an online presence, including domain names, storage, mailboxes, software tools to build Web sites, e-commerce applications, and 24/7 customer support. This segment offers its services through direct sales, and independent dealers and sales agents. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.Advisors' Opinion:
By Vatalyst At 2! 011-10-2 2
Shares are trading at $6.50 at the time of writing, as against their 52-week trading range of $6.04 to $9.29. Earnings per share for the last year were $0.45, and it paid a dividend of $0.20, yielding 3.10%.
Earthlink has shown tremendous growth in its internet and telephonic connectivity markets lately. But is this growth soon to blow out? In a market that is dominated by the larger companies, At&T (T), Verizon (VZ), and even AOL (AOL), it is hard to see that these three will allow too much trampling on their markets by the far smaller Earthlink. Gross margins at At&T, Verizon, and Earthlink are similar at around 58%, and there is not much difference in the resultant operating margins, either (15.5%, 17.5%, and 18.5%, respectively). Dividends are twice covered by earnings at AT& T and Earthlink, and marginally covered by earnings at Verizon. If the sector develops into a price war, AT&T’s dividend of yield of 6%, and undemanding price to earnings ratio of 8.39 will be more attractive to investors, and easier to achieve. Switch from Earthlink into AT&T.
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