price to sales ratio
WAL-MART STORES INC. $84 (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Portfolio: Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 3.2 billion; Market cap: $268.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.walmart.com) gets about 60% of its sales from its 4,516 stores in the U.S., including 3,407 supercentres, which sell both groceries and general merchandise. Groceries now supply 56% of Wal-Mart’s U.S. sales.
In 1991, the company opened its first store outside of the U.S. through a joint venture with a Mexican retailer. Its international division (29% of total sales) now operates 6,290 stores in 26 countries.
The remaining 11% of Wal-Mart’s sales comes from its Sam’s Club warehouse stores. The company charges customers a $45 annual membership fee to shop at these stores, which sell a variety of goods at wholesale prices. There are currently 647 Sam’s Club stores in the U.S. and other countries.
...
In 1991, the company opened its first store outside of the U.S. through a joint venture with a Mexican retailer. Its international division (29% of total sales) now operates 6,290 stores in 26 countries.
The remaining 11% of Wal-Mart’s sales comes from its Sam’s Club warehouse stores. The company charges customers a $45 annual membership fee to shop at these stores, which sell a variety of goods at wholesale prices. There are currently 647 Sam’s Club stores in the U.S. and other countries.
...
In 2000, we picked Symantec as our very first #1 Stock of the Year. It was well-established as the leader in anti-virus software. We felt Internet banking and shopping were sure to fuel its growth. Symantec was slow to get going, due to the end of Internet Mania, the 2001 recession, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It fell from our initial buy price of $6.63 to as low as $4.00 in 2001. We stuck with it, and made it our #1 buy once again for 2001, and a third time in 2002. By 2004, it had soared to $34....
NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC. $37 (New York symbol NWL; Aggressive Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 271.1 million; Market cap: $10.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newellrubbermaid.com) has gained 23% since we made it our Stock of the Year for 2014. The company makes plastic storage bins, tools, window blinds, pens and many other household goods. In the past few years, Newell has aggressively cut its costs, including closing plants. That has freed up cash that it can use to acquire businesses with strong long-term prospects....
VISA INC. $246 (New York symbol V; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 618.3 million; Market cap: $152.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 12.5; Dividend yield: 0.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.visa.com) gets most of its revenue from fees it charges card issuers and merchants for using its network. It bases its fees on payment volume and transactions processed, among other factors. The banks that issue the cards are responsible for evaluating customer creditworthiness and collecting payments, not Visa. The company continues to profit as more people shop online, and debit cards are quickly replacing cash for smaller transactions. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to hear an appeal of a class-action lawsuit by retailers seeking to lower the fees credit card companies charge. That cuts Visa’s risk....
CONAGRA FOODS INC. $37 (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 431.0 million; Market cap: $15.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.conagrafoods.com) bought Ralcorp Holdings, the largest private-label food maker in the U.S., for $4.75 billion in January 2013. The company has had trouble integrating this business. Ralcorp also faces strong price competition that has hurt its sales and earnings. In response, ConAgra has adjusted the prices of its private-label products. That should help improve Ralcorp’s market share. Efforts to streamline Ralcorp should also help it adjust to rising ingredient costs and improve its profitability by 2016. ConAgra is a buy....
Over 30 billion devices— including things like home thermostats and appliances— will be connected to the Internet by 2020. That means you’ll be able to control them with a smartphone, set them up to adapt to factors like outside temperatures and have them notify you if, for example, there is smoke or carbon monoxide in your home. This is known as the “Internet of Things.” The best way to profit from it is with companies like Intel and Cisco, which already power much of the Web’s infrastructure. Another option is Texas Instruments, a leading maker of chips for individual devices....
MICROSOFT CORP. $41 (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 8.2 billion; Market cap: $336.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.8; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. microsoft.com) plans to release Windows 10, the latest version of its popular operating system, later this year. Unlike previous editions, Microsoft will let users of older versions update for free. Sales to computer makers provide most of the revenue Microsoft gets from Windows, so giving it away to existing users will have little impact on its earnings. This will also help prevent users from switching to competing operating systems. Microsoft aims to make up the lost sales by selling related services, such as online versions of its Office business programs....
WAL-MART STORES INC. $87 (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Portfolio: Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 3.2 billion; Market cap: $278.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.walmart .com) plans to open 11 new supercentres, which sell groceries as well as merchandise, in Canada. That will give the company 394 Canadian stores, including 280 supercentres. Rival retailer Target recently announced that it would close all 133 of its Canadian outlets, and many people who shopped at these stores will likely switch to Wal-Mart. In addition, the company will probably pick up some of Target’s locations at a discount. Wal-Mart is a buy....
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to bring in new rules forcing power plants to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. Ameren and Alliant are upgrading their facilities in response. Regulators will probably let them pass along most of the extra costs to customers in the form of higher rates. However, we feel Alliant is in a better position to handle the new regulations than Ameren. AMEREN CORP. $46 (New York symbol AEE; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 242.6 million; Market cap: $11.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ameren.com) provides power and natural gas to 3.3 million customers in Illinois and Missouri....
NEWMONT MINING CORP. $24 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 498.8 million; Market cap: $11.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 0.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) has started work on its 75%-owned Merian gold project in Suriname; the Suriname government owns the remaining 25%. The company will spend $600 million to $700 million on Merian. The new mine will supply 7% to 10% of Newmont’s total gold production when it starts up in 2017. The stock has jumped 36% from its December 2014 low of $17.60. That’s mainly because gold prices have strengthened in response to fears of deflation in Europe. However, the higher U.S. dollar will continue to weigh on gold....