James Telfser
Agilent Technologies
A-N
TOP PICK
Nov 24, 2022
Consumables for labs. Green energy and pharmaceuticals creating all sorts of demand. Last quarter had 17% organic growth, pretty impressive. Guiding to 5-6% organic growth going forward. Underutilized balance sheet could be flexed for acquisitions. Growing dividend. Yield is 0.58%. (Analysts’ price target is $158.56)
(Top Short July 7/05. Down 11%.) It had fallen below the 200 day moving average and every rally that we had, failed to go higher than the 200 which indicated a negative trend. Historically this stock has an up tick at year end, but will then fall again.
8.5% yield growth. They like the focus on Alberta. The company mainly has two businesses; one is trucking and the other is moving oil service equipment. Pay out ratio is around 65%. Lots of room for distribution increases. No debt on the balance sheet. Risks could be commodity prices or a slow down in the Alberta economy.( which he does not see happening) Paid $24-30.50.
Re-engineered itself to focus on its test measurement and instrument business. Very broad product line in that space. Moved manufacturing offshore. Really a play on R&D rather than the economy. If you want exposure nanotechnology, optics, Intermaxtic biotechnology, etc. this company has products going into all those areas.
He likes this for their US dividend fund. They will benefit from the urgency to build labs to find a vaccine for COVID-19. An interesting market to be involved in. The space is very oligopolistic and the the company owns a 20% marketshare. Its balance sheet is under-levered he feels and a large amount of recurring revenue to replace lab components. Yield 0.79% (Analysts’ price target is $87.72)
(A Top Pick Jun 03/20, Up 48%) They've sold a rising number of consumables as medical schools reopen. They've increased revenue guidance for the year as businesses reopen. The valuation is reasonable. He expects them to buy companies in Asia to add to their growth.
(A Top Pick Jun 03/20, Up 55%) Great business. Involved in so many industries with secular growth. Underlevered balance sheet, so they'll be able to take advantage of opportunities.
It's been marching up for the last 16 months, doubling since the start of Covid. A lot of this rise came from Covid testing. Yesterday, they reported a top- and bottom-line beat, as revenues grew 26% YOY, driven by their pharma, chemical and energy businesses. He loves it. Amid sector rotations in the past year, this kept rising steadily.
Sector has been impacted with economic slow down after Covid-19. Believes healthcare sector will be strong in the long term. Lab tools in high demand globally. Will continue to own shares. Well managed company.