Just as we examine companies each week that may be rising past their fair value, we can also find companies potentially trading at bargain prices. While many investors would rather have nothing to do with companies tipping the scales at 52-week lows, I think it makes a lot of sense to determine whether the market has overreacted to the downside, just as we often do when the market reacts to the upside.
Here’s a look at three fallen angels trading near their 52-week lows that could be worth buying.
Light it up!
Hold on to your chairs, folks, because the first pick this week is way outside of the usual fundamental value picks I often tend to focus on. Instead, I’m going to suggest we follow fellow Fool Rick Munarriz’s suggestion for September and take a closer look at recent specialty e-tailing IPO Lightinthebox Holding Co Ltd-ADR (NYSE:LITB).
Aside from having one of those names that’s a nightmare for Microsoft Word to comprehend, Lightinthebox Holding Co Ltd-ADR (NYSE:LITB) is an intriguing company that’s growing by leaps and bounds. The company itself focuses on selling niche items like cocktail and wedding dresses which are predominantly uncharted territory when it comes to direct-to-consumer items, and forecasts call for sales growth of 50% next year. As Rick mentions, despite being based in China, and having that Chinese stigma of questionable fundamentals attached to the forefront of U.S. investors’ minds, it’s profitable and it garners much of its sales from North America and Europe.
Commercial REITs are hot, hot, hot!
In recent weeks I highlighted Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM), a shopping-center operator with nearly 900 properties across North and South America. Kimco has been on a buying spree recently, gobbling up properties while interest rates are still low and occupancy demand from retailers remains robust. With brand-name tenants such as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in its portfolio, Kimco is among the cream of the crop of retail REITs.
Today, I’m going to add a competitor to that list in Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI), which owns a cumulative total of 290 properties, of which 286 are shopping centers. Like Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM), Weingarten focuses on finding investment grade tenants and locks these businesses into long-term contracts. This means steady cash flow for Weingarten and the assurance, at least with its recent acquisitions, that it’s paying a very low level of interest on its debt.
Why Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) (and Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM) for that matter) has been hit recently is the presumption that higher interest rates are going to preclude these REITs from making too many new debt-financed acquisitions. While somewhat true, it also discourages businesses from undertaking enormous projects of their own and pushes them back into renting which is why Weingarten will continue to maintain such strong rental pricing power. With occupancy rates rising to 94.2% in the most recent quarter and the company boosting its funds from operations forecast (and remember, FFO is a determinant of how big of a dividend shareholders receive) I think all systems are clear for Weingarten to head higher.
