These high-yielding automakers are still buys

Article Excerpt

TOYOTA MOTOR CO. ADRs $127 (New York symbol TM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $190.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.toyota. com) sold 2.24 million vehicles in its fiscal 2016 first quarter, ended June 30, 2018. That’s up 1.0% from a year earlier. Specifically, sales rose 3.2% in North America, 5.4% in Europe and 8.5% in Asia. The gains offset declines in Japan (down 6.3%) and other regions (South America, Africa and the Middle East, down 3.5%). Overall revenue in the quarter rose 6.4%, to $67.5 billion from $63.5 billion a year earlier. Earnings per ADR improved 11.5%, to $4.08 from $3.66 (each American depositary receipt equals two Toyota common shares). That gain is mainly due to a successful cost-cutting plan. Higher costs for aluminum and plastics (derived from oil) will likely cut Toyota’s fiscal 2019 earnings per ADR by about 2% to $13.65. The stock trades at just 9.3 times…