Guru Held International Stocks Near 52-Week Lows

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Jul 31, 2014
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While going bargain hunting outside of the U.S., I searched for international stocks trading near their 52-week lows. For confirmation from the investing gurus, I narrowed my search down to the stocks that are held by at least five of the gurus we follow. At GuruFocus, there are a number of different categories that can be utilized to find stocks trading near their 52-week lows. The lists can be narrowed down to find 52-week low guru stocks, 52-week low insider buys, 3 and 5-year lows, as well as the ability to search on international exchanges. Here are the results of my search:

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CBI) closed at $60.37 on 7/30/2014, near its 52-week low of $57.73. The stock is down 32.91 percent from its 52-week high of $60.98 on 4/4/2014. “The old joke is that Chicago Bridge & Iron isn’t in Chicago, doesn’t build bridges and doesn’t use iron.” As said by a beneficiary of the family trust that once controlled the company. The company is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and provides engineering, construction, and maintenance to customers in the energy infrastructure throughout the world. The stock is undervalued in relation to its growing earnings. EPS reportedly increased 33.7 percent according to the news release on July 25. The stock is trading at a P/E of 12.76 while its 5-year median P/E is 15.8. The stock is held by 12 gurus we follow with Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway holding the largest position of 9.55 million shares, representing 8.83 percent of the shares outstanding.

Market Cap: 6.47 billion, P/E: 12.76

Business Predictability: 2.5/5, Financial Strength: 7/10, Profitability & Growth: 7/10

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Core Laboratories NV (CLB) closed at $149.00 today, near its 52-week low of $146.02. The stock is down 33.44 percent from its 52-wwek high of $221.00 on 4/17/2014. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is one of the world’s leading providers of proprietary and patented reservoir description, production enhancement and reservoir services to the oil and gas industry. It has had massive growth, and the stock is up 1,255 percent over the past ten years. Like with all high growth stories, when the growth slows, the stock gets crushed. The earnings report on July 25 reported EPS growth of just 7 percent, not enough to support its P/E of 27.23. The stock is held by 8 gurus we follow with Ron Baron of Baron Funds holding the largest position of 1.74 million shares, representing 3.89 percent of the shares outstanding.

Market Cap: 6.62 billion, P/E: 27.23

Business Predictability: 3/5, Financial Strength: 9/10, Profitability & Growth: 9/10

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UBS AG (UBS) closed at $17.68 on 7/30/2014, near its 52-week low of $17.44 that was reached today. The stock is down 20.30 percent from its 52-week high of $21.61 on 10/22/2013. The company is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. The financial services firm provides retail, wealth management, corporate and institutional banking, asset management, and investment banking products worldwide. The stock is trading at a P/B ratio of 1.22, and its book-value-per-share has been increasing at a rate of 6.72 percent over the past five years. In normal times, financial stocks tend to trade in a range of 1.2 to 1.3 times its book value. Earnings for the company are back on a positive growth trend, but the stock will likely dip a little bit more with deflation worries in Europe. The stock is held by 6 gurus we follow with Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management holding the largest position of 39.2 million shares, representing 1.04 percent of the shares outstanding.

Market Cap: 64.74 billion, P/E: 18.80

Business Predictability: 1/5, Financial Strength: 5/10, Profitability & Growth: 6/10

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Credit Suisse Group (CS) closed at $27.64 on 7/30/2014, near its 52-week low of $27.49 that was reached today. The stock is down 20.10 percent from its 52-week high of $33.98 on 10/22/2013. The company is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Credit Suisse is one of the world’s leading financial services providers and is committed to delivering its combined financial experience and expertise to corporate, institutional and government clients, to ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals worldwide, as well as affluent and retail clients in Switzerland. The stock is currently trading at a P/B ratio of 0.98, and book value per share is slightly down over the past five years. With UBS’s stronger fundamentals, I would choose it over Credit Suisse at this time. Credit Suisse’s stock is held by 6 gurus we follow with Dodge & Cox holding the largest position of 858,396 shares, representing 0.05 percent of the shares outstanding.

Market Cap: 43.44 billion, P/E: 27.90

Business Predictability: 1/5, Financial Strength: 6/10, Profitability & Growth: 4/10

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Mindray Medical International Ltd (MR) closed at $30.65 on 7/30/2014, near its 52-week low of $29.59. The stock is down 31.29 percent from its 52-week high of $43.81 on 8/12/2013. The company is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Mindray is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices worldwide. Its primary business segments comprise of patient monitoring and life support products, in-vitro diagnostic products, and medical imaging systems. The company has very little debt, but its earnings were down 34 percent during the first quarter of 2014. The slowing growth has been a concern, but the stock seems to have found support at around $30 per share. The stock is held by 5 gurus we follow with the Matthews China Fund holding the largest position of 998,168 shares, representing 0.84 percent of the shares outstanding.

Market Cap: 3.56 billion, P/E: 17.40

Business Predictability: 1/5, Financial Strength: 8/10, Profitability & Growth: 7/10

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Searching for 52-week lows is one way to start your bargain hunt for value stocks. For the complete list of Guru owned stocks that have reached their 52-week lows, go to: GuruFocus list of 52-week lows.