Is Women CEO the Secret to Generating High Returns on Equity?

Melisa R. H. Posted On June 6, 2019

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There are a number of women breaking the glass ceiling in the business world. Some have reached the coveted CEO level and oversee great companies with large market capitalizations. These female CEOs can be found in a wide variety of sectors.

These companies have been celebrated for having strong management and good foresight. According to an article on The Balance and a number of studies in recent years, there is evidence that women in executive positions and on corporate boards can have a positive impact on a company’s performance.

Here are the best-run companies listed on Stockchase run by CEOs that are women:

🛍 Consumer
Canada Stock
Linamar Corp (LNR-T)
Linda Hasenfratz is a Canadian businesswoman, the president, chairman, and CEO of Linamar since 2002. The second largest automobile parts manufacturer. It’s a very well managed company with products to go forward. They are also in the aerial lifts and agriculture space.

Linamar Corp (LNR-T) — Stockchase

There are all kinds of good things about this company. After NAFTA was agreed upon the stock has gone down. Issues in Europe should have been short term. It is perceived as the smaller of the auto parts companies. But it should be viewed as a metallics manufacture. They make products for oil and gas,…

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US Stock
General Motors Corporation (GM-N)
Mary Teresa Barra is the Chairwoman and CEO of General Motors Company, and she has held the CEO position since 2014. It’s trading at a cheap multiple of 6.2x earnings. There is volatility in the auto sector as they go through electrification. It pays a good dividend but it is not expected to be raised in the near future.

General Motors Corporation (GM-N) — Stockchase

Their strategy has been focused on getting out of Europe, and did that by selling Opel/Vauxhall at north of $2 billion. Reinvested those proceeds into share repurchases and into China, which has been a real winner for them. Believes they sell more cars in China than in the US. Also sold more electric cars in…

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Hershy Foods Corp (HSY-N)
Michele Buck is an American businesswoman. In March 2017,she became the first female President and CEO. The largest chocolate manufacturer in the world. It is a global leader with over 80 brands. A defensive growth stock and it is a good pick against tariffs since most of their revenues are from North America.

Hershy Foods Corp (HSY-N) — Stockchase

Good company. Dividends. May have a lot of defensive money in it right now.

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Ulta Salon Cosmetics and Fragrance Inc. (ULTA-Q)
Mary Dillon is an American businesswoman, and has been the CEO since July 2013. A beauty store chain in the United States. It’s well managed and is continuing to open stores. Their same-store sales growth has been growing well at 7-8% yearly.

Ulta Salon Cosmetics and Fragrance Inc. (ULTA-Q) — Stockchase

Very good management. Likes the segment and its growth profile. It can have a little torque, so you might want to use trailing stops. When it comes off, it can come off pretty hard.

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Ross Stores Inc. (ROST-Q)
Barbara Rentler is a businesswoman, and the current CEO of Fortune 500 company. An off-price department store chain. They are the second largest after TJX Companies. In times of recession, these stocks tend to do well. THey are also building stores and buying back shares.

Ross Stores Inc. (ROST-Q) — Stockchase

Off channel retailer. Sell at deep discounts. Nicely positioned to benefit from consumers desire to wear brand name clothing at a discount.

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💻 Technology
US Stock
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD-Q)
Lisa Su is a Taiwanese American business executive and electrical engineer, and the CEO and president of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). A semiconductor maker that is Intel’s competitor. It has stayed above the 200 day average and the sector is recovering.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD-Q) — Stockchase

A play on chips, Apple devices and hopefully they get into more autonomous vehicles. In the last 3 days, it has dropped about 25%-30%. Morgan Stanley reduced their rating on the company, but Morningstar increased their rating. He thinks you are okay continuing to Hold and see what the next couple of quarters brings.

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Oracle (ORCL-N)
Safra A. Catz is an Israeli-born American business executive and co-CEO of Oracle Corporation. A computer technology company. They are developing their subscription services and cloud based business.

Oracle (ORCL-N) — Stockchase

It recently had a pretty good earnings beat. Technically, it has broken out of a cup. Right now, the water is going against tech, and this has had a phenomenal run and valuations are very high. He would suggest moving your money to another allocation. Dividend of about 1.5%.

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IBM (IBM-N)
Virginia Marie “Ginni” Rometty is an American business executive. She is the current chair, president, and CEO of IBM, and the first woman to head the company. A multinational tech company that specializes in computer hardware. They are implementing a stock buyback plan that will see the stock pay a 5% yield.

IBM (IBM-N) — Stockchase

He started looking at it a week ago. He owns Microsoft and Apple in this space. Their latest earnings were not that strong. They don’t have the big growth engines like Microsoft. However, it is incredibly cheap. They are doing a lot with AI, and is at a level that is interesting.

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👨‍⚕️ Healthcare
US Stock
Mylan Inc (MYL-Q)
Heather Bresch is an American business executive. She has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Mylan since 2012. A global pharmaceutical company that manufactures generic drugs. They are the ones who manufacturer EpiPen and they went through some controversy. A generic version is now offered but their credibility is still brining pressure.

Mylan Inc (MYL-Q) — Stockchase

Recently acquired King Pharmaceuticals.

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🏛 Financials
US Stock
Ventas Inc (VTR-N)
Debra A. Cafaro is an American business executive, who is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Ventas, Inc. A real estate investment trust specializing in the US healthcare industry. They are one of the largest healthcare REITs and is very well run.

Ventas Inc (VTR-N) — Stockchase

American senior housing REIT. Nothing is broken with this company, but what they have done is announce a large transaction in Canada. If you are buying for the demographic story, you stick with it.

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Nasdaq Stock Market (NDAQ-Q)
Adena T. Friedman is an American businessperson. She currently serves as the president and CEO of Nasdaq. The financial services company that operates the NASDAQ stock exchange. They also operate eight European stock exchanges.

Nasdaq Stock Market (NDAQ-Q) — Stockchase

When the market moves this will do well.

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Progressive Corp Ohio (PGR-N)
Tricia Griffith is an American business executive who currently serves as the CEO and president of Progressive. A car insurance provider. The property and casualty insurance sector has very low costs of operation and is profitable. There is a long-term uptrend that is lifting share prices.

Progressive Corp Ohio (PGR-N) — Stockchase

Although it always looks expensive it is a great niche little auto company. Very well-managed and very focused. Still a lot of earnings momentum to come.

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Synchrony Financial (SYF-N)
Margaret Keane has been the chief executive officer and president of Synchrony Financial since February 2014. A consumer financial services company. They try to bring value to consumers and merchants. It offers private label credit cards and other deposit products.

Synchrony Financial (SYF-N) — Stockchase

Believes this is a business that does something that is differentiated. They provide value to the client that has the card and provide value to the retailer. Looking at the economics that is providing their service, it is attractive. They earn higher gross yields, which means they can sustain a higher write-off, which is going…

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Keycorp (KEY-N)
Beth Elaine Mooney is an American financial executive who is the first woman to be CEO of a top-20 U.S. bank. A regional bank based in Cleveland. It is one of the largest bank-based financial services company.

Keycorp (KEY-N) — Stockchase

An average financial institution/average bank. Has a good dividend yield. A solid bank.

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💡 Utilities
Canada Stock
Transalta Corp (TA-T)
Dawn Lorraine Farrell has been the Chief Executive Officer and President at TransAlta Corporation since 2012. An electricity power generator that has announced plans to buy back stocks. They are making a transition from coal to natural gas fired power plants.

Transalta Corp (TA-T) — Stockchase

This, by default, is a contrarian company that happens to be in the utility space. This is coming back. They’ve had to do some major cost cutting. They’re converting some of their coal plants to natural gas in order to avoid some carbon tax. The beauty of utilities is that they do generate cash flow.…

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Atco Ltd (ACO.X-T)
Nancy C. Southern has been the Chief Executive Officer of ATCO Ltd. since January 2000. A holding company with subsidiaries mostly in gas or construction. The talks of lower interest rates has helped this company’s stock price.

Atco Ltd (ACO.X-T) — Stockchase

Sold his holdings a few months ago as he had thought it had become fairly valued. If you own, it never hurts to take a profit. This company is doing very well with the build out in the mining and oil/gas sectors.

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US Stock
Duke Energy (DUK-N)
Lynn J. Good is chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Duke Energy, a Fortune 500 company. An electric power holding company that is in energy infrastructure. The rising interest rate have hurt the utilities and energy sector but it is recovering and the overall outlook is good.

Duke Energy (DUK-N) — Stockchase

Got caught in the Enron fiasco and became very unpopular. Terrific assets. Good generation and distribution. Nice dividend. Well run. Won’t have huge growth. Prefers a Cdn. Utility.

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CMS Energy Corp (CMS-N)
Patricia K. Poppe is an American businesswoman and business executive, the president and CEO of CMS Energy since 2016. A utility operations company. One of the best run in the US. It is currently trading at a premium, but the quality justifies the price.

CMS Energy Corp (CMS-N) — Stockchase

Speculative.

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American Water Works Co. Inc. (AWK-N)
Susan N. Story is an American utility executive and the current Chief Executive Officer of American Water. They operate public water utility in the US and Canada. They have quite a high valuation with over 20 times earnings but it has performed well.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (AWK-N) — Stockchase

There is a lot of opportunity in this sector, but not where this company is operating. They see the growth drivers in water in the emerging markets so prefers companies in this area.

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🚚 Industrials
US Stock
Lockheed Martin (LMT-N)
Marillyn Adams Hewson is the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin. A global aerospace and defense tech company. This tends to move higher with market volatility. They pay a good yield of 2.58%.

Lockheed Martin (LMT-N) — Stockchase

He is very keen on defence stocks. (Owns United Technologies (UTX-N).) There are others he would buy on weakness such as Orbital ATK (OA-N), a long-term play on munitions and the propulsion area. Also, Huntington (HII-N), which does most of the work for the U.S. Navy.

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General Dynamics Corp. (GD-N)
Phebe Novakovic is an American businesswoman and former intelligence officer. She serves as the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of General Dynamics. They make nuclear subs for the government and executive Gulfstream jets. 25% of their revenues are from aerospace and business jets. They just increased their dividend by 10% recently.

General Dynamics Corp. (GD-N) — Stockchase

Defence is a theme he has been focused on for about 2 years. Technically the group has broken out. Defence companies are the only ones that never tell you what is coming next. There is a built-in optionality for the things that they are developing, but they are secret. Coming into the election, we knew…

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⚡ Energy
US Stock
Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY-N)
Vicki Hollub is an American businesswoman and mineral engineer. She has been the president and CEO of Occidental Petroleum since April 2016. A petroleum and natural gas exploration company. They are one of the largest US oil and gas company by equity market cap. They also own OxyChem which is a major chemical manufacturer.