Value-seekers Heaven – Buy Nissan, Hold American Woodmark

Article Excerpt

NISSAN MOTOR CO. $16.85 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; SI Rating: Above-average) (310-771-3111; www.nissanmotors.com; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $38.1 billion) is Japan’s second largest automaker after Toyota, and just ahead of Honda. Nissan’s car models include Maxima and Sentra, and the more upscale Altima and Infiniti. Other models include Frontier pickups, the 350Z sports car, and the Xterra and Pathfinder SUVs. Major plants are in Japan, but also in the U.S., U.K., Mexico, Spain and Australia. In the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2007, Nissan’s revenues rose 18.2%, to 2.8 trillion yen ($26 billion U.S.) from 2.3 trillion yen ($21.9 billion) a year earlier. The revenue increase came from a 13% increase in vehicle sales to 898,000 units. Profits rose 26.6%, to 132.2 billion yen ($1.24 billion U.S., or $0.55 per ADR) from 104.5 billion yen ($979.7 million U.S. or $0.43 per ADR). New models are selling well The introduction of 11 new products continues to boost Nissan’s sales and profits. This includes…