Reuters Summit: Energy, telecom stocks offer opportunities -O'Shaughnessy
19/11/2014 22:07
(For other news from the Reuters Global Investment Outlook
Summit, click on http://www.reuters.com/summit/investment14)
By Luciana Lopez
NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Despite record levels in U.S.
stocks, pockets of value remain in equities, including energy
companies, telecoms and microcap corporations, the head of
O'Shaughnessy Asset Management said on Wednesday.
"There are lots of stocks in the U.S. market that remain
very cheap," Jim O'Shaughnessy said at the Reuters Global
Investment Outlook Summit in New York, saying that they include
a number of energy companies.
The shares of many energy companies have slumped sharply as
the price of oil has collapsed. Crude prices CLc1 have sunk
more than 24 percent this year.
While investors, in an emotional reaction, often shy away
from stocks that have encountered headwinds, O'Shaughnessy
stressed the need to look at measurable factors to evaluate
stocks, such as earnings strength and price.
By those factors, he said, "energy is looking really, really
cheap."
That's led his firm to scoop up shares of such companies as
Canadian Oil Sands COS.TO , Ecopetrol SA ECO.CN , and BP
BP.L .
Major U.S. stock indexes have hit a series of record highs
this year, with the Standard & Poor's 500 .SPX up about 11
percent after a jump of about 30 percent in 2013.
Telecoms also offer solid opportunities, said O'Shaughnessy.
Among telecoms stocks he has bought recently are AT&T T.N ,
Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE and CenturyLink Inc CTL.N .
He also cited microcap stocks - companies with a market
capitalization often between $50 million and $200 million - as
an opportunity.
"They would do very well for your average investor to get
them to diversify away from things like the S&P 500, which has
gotten expensive," he said.
Attractive microcaps, he said, include transportation and
logistics company Radiant Logistics Inc RLGT.A ; P.A.M.
Transportation Services PTSI.O , a truckload dry van carrier
that transports commodities in the United States and Canada; and
Handy & Harman Ltd HNH.O , a manufacturer of engineered
industrial products.
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(Reporting by Luciana Lopez; Editing by Leslie Adler)
((luciana.f.lopez@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6319; Reuters
Messaging: luciana.f.lopez.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: INVESTMENT YEAREND/ENERGY