Can Investors Find Value in the Greek Crisis?

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Greece’s economy is in shambles. Unemployment persistently resides in the double-digit range. However, investors can benefit greatly from turmoil. Catastrophe breeds lower asset prices. However, those asset prices can also be justified. Let’s take a look at three exchange traded funds (ETFs) and a Greek bank to see if they are OK for investment.

Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (NYSEMKT: GREK) keeps track of 20 publicly traded Greek companies, according to MarketWatch. The ETF manages roughly $300 million in assets and possesses a Greek weighting of 76%. Interestingly, Coca-Cola HBC, a Coca-Cola bottler, represents the fund’s largest holding at 21%.

This bottler, while in state of decline, generated positive free cash flow in fiscal 2014 of €333 million, giving this fund a small degree of margin of safety. Unfortunately, the fund also possesses heavy weighting in the country’s ailing financial sector, which is starving for bailouts. The fund currently trades around $10 per share, representing a whopping 60% decline from its five-year high of $24.93 reached in March of 2014.

RevenueShares Global Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: RGRO) possesses a 9.6% Greek weighting. This fund trades at a 12% discount from its 52-week high. Investors’ distaste for the fund’s exposure overlooks the fact that more than 90% of its securities lie elsewhere, enhancing this fund’s potential for gains.

Cambria Global Value ETF (NYSEMKT: GVAL) possesses a 9% Greek weighting. The fund trades at a whopping 28% discount from its high of $26.76 per share, set on June 10, 2014.

ALSO READ: Debt Crises: Puerto Rico vs. Greece

The National Bank of Greece S.A. (NYSE: NBG) trades at around $0.97 per share, representing a roughly 99% decline from its five-year high of $145 per share reached on July 1, 2010. The company’s share price decline is justified. The National Bank of Greece has only been profitable once in the past five years. Companies that cannot stand on their own two feet without government help represent a risky and speculative bet.

Investors may want to look into RevenueShares Global Growth ETF and Cambria Global Value ETF. These two exchange traded funds suffer as a result of Greek exposure in their portfolios but invest the majority of their portfolios elsewhere.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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