Want to invest in a company that is better at generating sales than profits?
On the surface, that sounds like a remarkably bad idea. But investing in a company that has robust revenues and skimpy profits can sometimes pay off. New management, new products, or plain old cost cutting may revivify a sleepy corporation.
The tool I use to identify such companies is the price-to-sales ratio. Take the stock price, divide it by the company’s sales per share (also called revenue per share), and you have the ratio.
Anything below 1.0 is a low ratio, and worth investigating. Such companies can often be turnaround candidates. They may already have a big customer base, and just need to serve it more effectively.
Here are five stocks that appear attractive by this gauge.
Pilgrims Pride
Consumers are feeling stretched right now, with higher prices for food, gasoline, and insurance denting their pocketbooks. Some are trading down to cheaper kinds of food. As part of that, I think people may be eating less beef and more chicken in the coming year.
This might benefit chicken producers such as Pilgrims Pride Corp. (PPC). It is the second-largest chicken producer in the U.S. Tyson Foods (TSN) is first. Both sell for modest price/sales ratios, but I prefer Pilgrims Pride because it is a purer play in chicken, while Tyson also produces beef and pork.
Pilgrims Pride stock, which has advanced 37% this year, sells for 0.5 times revenue.
Wabash National
Based in Lafayette, Indiana, Wabash National Corp. (WNC) makes truck trailers, including refrigerated ones and tankers. Over the past ten years, it has increased revenue by an average of 7% a year. Profits have been spotty, with 12 gains and three losses over the past 15 years.
Lately, though, Wabash National has been showing strong and improving profitability. Its return on stockholders’ equity in the past four quarters has been 39%. I consider over 15% good and over 20% excellent.
Bunge
Bunge Global SA (BG), based in Chesterfield, Missouri, is an agribusiness and food company. It mills grain, produces vegetable oil and flour, makes animal feed and has a variety of other operations. It has earned a profit in 14 of the past 15 years.
Bunge stock, up about 9% this year, sells for about 0.3 times revenue. It operates on thin profit margins – about 4.7% before tax and 3.2% after tax.
Is there glamor here? None. Is there value? I think so, especially since the stock is selling for only nine times earnings. (Its normal multiple is about 15.)
Reinsurance Group
Hurricanes, floods and earthquakes are the bane of insurance companies and reinsurance companies. Reinsurance companies are in essence the insurers for insurers. They step in when claims go above a certain threshold.
Profits for reinsurers are often spotty. But Reinsurance Group of America Inc. (RGA) has shown a profit in each of the past 30 years, indicating that it prices its reinsurance policies well enough to cover the risks.
The stock is up about 30% this year but still goes for 0.7 times revenue.
PC Connection
The popularity of smart phones has reduced demand for personal computers. Last year about 242 million PCs were shipped worldwide, down almost 15% from the year before, according to Statista.com.
PC Connection Inc. (CNXN), which sells computers to businesses, government agencies, universities and consumers, felt the impact. Its sales were down about 10% last year, though it managed to eke out a 1% gain in profits.
The stock, down about 4% this year, sells for 0.62 times revenue. What I like best about this company is its balance sheet. Its debt is only 1% of corporate net worth.
The Record
This is the 22nd column I’ve written on stocks with low price/sales ratios, beginning in 1998. The average return on the previous 21 columns was 29.9%, compared with 10.3% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Total Return Index.
I don’t expect to beat the index by almost 20 points with any consistency. My track record in this series owes chiefly to great results on recommendations made in 2000, 2002, and 2012.
My picks in this series have been profitable 18 times out of 21, and beat the benchmark 12 times.
Bear in mind that my column results are hypothetical and shouldn’t be confused with results I obtain for clients. Also, past performance doesn’t predict the future.
What about my picks a year ago? Don’t ask. They advanced only 9.7%, while the index marched up 26.0%. Losses on Lear Corp. (LEA) and CVS Health Corp. (CVS) dragged down the return. The only big success was Phillips 66 (PSX), which climbed 44.7%.
Disclosure: I don’t own the stocks discussed in today’s column, personally or for clients.
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