Stock Watch - Stock Picks — Lab Corp and Old Mutual
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Ricus Reeders from PSG Wealth Sandton chose Laboratory Corp American Holdings as his stock pick of the day and Deryck Janse Van Rensburg from Anchor Securities chose Old Mutual.
Reeders said: "My stock is a US stock called Lab Corp, they are basically medical laboratories and they are one of the big players in the US, if not the biggest. They were under pressure and have recovered somewhat, sitting at a forward price earnings of 13 times, which doesn't make them expensive. They are also busy doing a lot of interesting stuff as far as digitising processes, gaining market share and also dealing with medi-care which have reduced their margins somewhat but they are adjusting to that and I think they are the right kind of company in an aging population in the right kind of market. If you are worried about emerging markets or SA in general I would say that Lab Corp offers the right kind of safety in a portfolio."
Janse Van Rensburg said: "I haven't chosen one for a while but I'm choosing a South African stock, Old Mutual. I think that the share price in the short term got battered on the back of the unknowns around why the CEO is leaving, the chart mirrors that sentiment as well. The stock is sitting at around R21,60 a share at the moment and I think it is probably one of the cheapest I have seen in quite some time. I don't see this running off to the races and bolstering towards R28 per share in the near term but in a market where things are benign and going sideways, I think you need to be very specific about picking quality and paying very special attention to fundamentals. So, it could remain cheap for a while around these levels but I'm quite happy with the current entry price if you just look at those fundamentals and take a 3 to 5 year view looking forward."
Reeders said: "My stock is a US stock called Lab Corp, they are basically medical laboratories and they are one of the big players in the US, if not the biggest. They were under pressure and have recovered somewhat, sitting at a forward price earnings of 13 times, which doesn't make them expensive. They are also busy doing a lot of interesting stuff as far as digitising processes, gaining market share and also dealing with medi-care which have reduced their margins somewhat but they are adjusting to that and I think they are the right kind of company in an aging population in the right kind of market. If you are worried about emerging markets or SA in general I would say that Lab Corp offers the right kind of safety in a portfolio."
Janse Van Rensburg said: "I haven't chosen one for a while but I'm choosing a South African stock, Old Mutual. I think that the share price in the short term got battered on the back of the unknowns around why the CEO is leaving, the chart mirrors that sentiment as well. The stock is sitting at around R21,60 a share at the moment and I think it is probably one of the cheapest I have seen in quite some time. I don't see this running off to the races and bolstering towards R28 per share in the near term but in a market where things are benign and going sideways, I think you need to be very specific about picking quality and paying very special attention to fundamentals. So, it could remain cheap for a while around these levels but I'm quite happy with the current entry price if you just look at those fundamentals and take a 3 to 5 year view looking forward."