Merrill Lynch Raises Price Targets on 5 Top Buy-Rated Growth Stocks

April 24, 2017 by Lee Jackson

The higher the market goes, the harder it is to justify many of the multiples being applied to shares. The big moves in the market since the election last November were due in part to big moves by tech stocks with very large market capitalizations. With tail-risk mounting due to the French elections, the geopolitical situation around the world and some sociopolitical issues here at home, it makes sense for investors to buy stocks with lower multiple large cap growth stocks.

In a series of new research reports, Merrill Lynch raised price targets on five quality, large cap growth stocks that make good sense for growth investors looking to reposition their portfolios to account for perhaps more volatility in the rest of 2017. With corporate optimism much stronger than some of the current data, playing it safe makes good sense.

Here are five buy-rated growth stocks on which Merrill Lynch has raised its price targets.

Citizens Financial Group

A top financial pick across Wall Street, Citizens Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: CFG) operates 1,200 branches primarily throughout 11 states across the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. It has consolidated total assets of $137 billion, ranking as the 13th largest bank in the United States by assets. The company offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to more than 5 million individuals, institutions and companies.

The company posted outstanding first-quarter results and the analysts noted this in the report:

Strong capital markets revenue, card fees, and spread income drove the first quarter earnings-per-share beat. We are raising our 2017 EPS estimate to $2.40 and 2018 EPS estimate to $2.70 to reflect improved revenue prospects. We reiterate our Buy rating as the company has multiple levers to grow revenue and remains committed to deploy its excess capital.

Shareholders are paid a 1.6% dividend. The Merrill Lynch price target was raised to $40 from $38, and the Wall Street consensus target is $37.90. The shares closed last Friday at $34.90.

D.R. Horton

This is one of the highest volume builders in the United States. D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) is the largest public builder by closings in the country, delivering roughly 40,000 homes in fiscal 2016. The company is positioned in 78 metropolitan markets in six major regions, and it develops single-family homes for first-time and move-up buyers.

Approximately 80% of revenue is derived from the Southeast, South Central and West regions. The company also provides mortgage financing and title agency services to homebuyers. Merrill Lynch likes the liquidity and size of a builder like D.R. Horton, as the company has a market capitalization of over $10 billion.

The company posted solid results but investors sold off the shares, a mistake that Merrill Lynch feels, as it raised the price target and estimates on the company.

Shareholders receive a 1.22% dividend. Merrill Lynch raised its price target to $41 from $40, and the consensus target is $34.97. The shares closed Friday at $32.87.

Newmont Mining

This is one of the largest mining companies and a solid buy for more conservative accounts. It is also one of the top picks at Deutsche Bank. Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) is a leading gold and copper producer. It employs approximately 29,000 employees and contractors, with the majority working at managed operations in the United States, Australia, Ghana, Peru, Indonesia and Suriname. Newmont is the only gold producer listed in the S&P 500 index, and it was named the mining industry leader by the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index in 2015.

The company is an industry leader in value creation, supported by its leading technical, environmental, social and safety performance. Newmont was founded in 1921 and has been publicly traded since 1925.

The company recently announced that two projects in Ghana are moving ahead and are expected to add 200,000 to 300,000 ounces of new gold output for the company. Plus, Merrill Lynch indicates that the company will be able to maintain 5 million ounce annual output rate over the long term.

Shareholders receive a 0.6% dividend. The $42 Merrill Lynch price target was raised to $43. The consensus target is $39.17, and shares closed Friday at $34.13.

Royal Dutch Shell

This company has survived the plunge in oil pricing as good as or better than any other major integrated stock. Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) operates as an independent oil and gas company worldwide through its Upstream and Downstream segments. The company explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

Royal Dutch Shell also converts natural gas to liquids to provide fuels and other products; markets and trades crude oil and natural gas; transports oil; liquefies and transports gas; extracts bitumen from mined oil sands and converts it to synthetic crude oil; and generates electricity from wind energy.

Shareholders receive a 6.22% dividend. The Merrill Lynch analysts raised the price target to $63 from $60, citing a bullish projection for Brent crude at $61 a barrel. The posted consensus price target is $62.70. Shares closed most recently at $51.41.

Visa

This top credit card issuer is becoming a huge leader in digital pay. Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments.

The company operates one of the world’s most advanced processing networks, VisaNet, that is capable of handling more than 56,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products.

The company posted solid earnings and the guidance was effectively raised to the high-end of the range.

Shareholders receive a 0.72% dividend. The Merrill Lynch price target was raised to $103 from $96. The consensus target is $98.48, and shares closed last Friday at $91.15.

Five top companies to buy that either reported good earnings and guidance or had a catalyst hit that bodes well for the future. All make good sense for accounts looking to add stocks that are not inflated or overbought.

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