UBS Quality Growth at a Reasonable Price Stocks Crush the S&P 500: 3 to Buy Right Now

July 12, 2016 by Lee Jackson

Performance that counts on Wall Street is performance that is measured in years, not in months, and many investors make the mistake of jumping into hot new portfolio ideas because they are trendy, and they end up getting hurt. One thing is for sure, passive index investing, which has been all the rage for years, could come into a period of underperformance, especially if the markets continue to trade sideways, like it has since February of 2015. Stock picking with an eye toward total return could become huge.

We have covered the UBS Quality Growth At A Reasonable Price (Q-GARP) portfolio for years, and with good reason. Since its inception in 2007, on a cumulative total return basis, it has outperformed the S&P 500 137.7% to 69.5%, a relative performance versus the iconic index of 68.3%.

While not making any changes to the portfolio this month, the UBS team does highlight the portfolio winners and losers for the first half of 2016. We think that the three stocks that underperformed could be outstanding picks for the second half of 2016, and they also are offering investors excellent entry points.

Ameriprise Financial

This top company offers investors solid upside potential and a very nice dividend. Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP) provides a range of financial products and services in the United States and internationally. The Advice & Wealth Management segment offers financial planning and advice, as well as brokerage services primarily to retail clients through its advisors.

Its Asset Management segment provides investment advice and investment products to retail, high net worth, and institutional clients through unaffiliated third-party financial institutions and institutional sales force. In recent years Ameriprise has recruited heavily from the top Wall Street firms ranks.

Ameriprise returned $568 million to investors in the first quarter via buybacks and dividends, as well as raised its quarterly payout by 12%. Trading at a forward price-to-earnings number of just over 9 and PEG of 0.84, the stock makes sense for investors looking to add a top financial.

Ameriprise investors are paid a 3.3% dividend. The Thomson/First Call consensus price target for the stock is $111.40. The shares closed Monday at $91.66.

Invesco

This company is a financial services leader that has strong positions in both equity exchange traded funds (ETFs) and actively managed equity and debt mutual funds. Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) looks to be very well-positioned to capitalize on inflows into both segments, as well as higher asset prices, as many on Wall Street see a continuation of the six-year bull market.

Invesco PowerShares is the boutique investment management firm that manages a family of ETFs. The company has been part of Invesco, which markets the PowerShares product, since 2006. The incredible growth and popularity of the product is why many on Wall Street remain so bullish on the stock. Analysts see the company as one that is best positioned to compete for share given mix, product offerings and attractive relative performance.

Invesco investors receive a very rich 4.34% dividend. The consensus target is $33.92, and the shares closed Monday at $25.82.

Mylan

This is another Q-GARP favorite and it sports a very appealing valuation. Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ: MYL) develops, licenses, manufactures, markets and distributes generic, branded generic and specialty pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company provides generic or branded generic pharmaceutical products in tablet, capsule, injectable, transdermal patch, gel, cream or ointment forms, as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). It is also involved in the development of APIs with non-infringing processes for internal use and to partner with manufacturers, and the manufacture and sale of injectable products in antineoplastics, anti-infectives, anesthesia/pain management and cardiovascular therapeutic areas.

Mylan had attempted a takeover of drugmaker Perrigo last year, which was fought off, and the company has since announced the purchase of Meda and recent acquisition of Renaissance. UBS loves the company’s very attractive valuation, and trading at just over nine times estimated 2016 earnings per share, it clearly is cheap.

The consensus price target is $58.13. The shares closed Monday at $44.55.

These are good stocks that have underperformed, make good sense in a toppy market and most likely are close to fully valued. Long-term growth investors may do very well with these very well-run companies.

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