Is Teva Pharmaceuticals a Good Stock to Buy?
Meena is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
Teva Pharmaceuticals' (NYSE: TEVA) business has been doing well so far in 2012. In the first half of the year, revenue was up 22% versus the same period in 2011, including a 19% increase in the second quarter. Operating expenses were up a modest amount, but with a small decrease in share count the company reported $1.96 in earnings per share for the first half of the year; in the first six months of last year, Teva had $1.49 in EPS. The European business had slightly lower revenue, but strong results in both generic and branded products in the U.S. (which was responsible for over half of the company’s business) led growth. The better numbers were partly the result of the acquisition of biopharmaceutical company Cephalon.
However, a drop in the stock price in May, and a weak rally since then, has left the stock down 6% on the year while the NASDAQ is up about 15%. At a $35 billion market capitalization, Teva Pharmaceuticals trades at 11 times trailing earnings. Wall Street analysts expect continued growth in 2013, so the stock actually trades at only 7 times earnings consensus. Teva’s beta is 0.7, indicating that on a statistical basis it offers at least some downside protection from a falling market. We’re not too familiar with the company’s product line, but the value appears good based on a trailing basis, and with an attractive forward multiple as well it could be researched further.
Teva Pharmaceuticals was the largest holding in Owl Creek Asset Management’s 13F portfolio at the end of June. Owl Creek, managed by Jeffrey Altman, reported a position of 3.4 million shares (find more of Jeffrey Altman's favorite stocks). Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, which tends to focus on healthcare stocks, also liked Teva as the fund increased its stake from a very small position to a total of 3.6 million shares (see more stock picks from Visium Asset Management). D.E. Shaw, named after its billionaire founder David E. Shaw, also bought shares and finished the second quarter with 2.9 million shares in its portfolio (research more stocks that D.E. Shaw has been buying).
Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: ACT) is a good peer for Teva. It carries a forward P/E of 11, representing a small premium on that basis. It has also been growing, with top-line numbers for the second quarter of 2012 coming in 25% higher than a year earlier. It doesn’t seem to be as good a value, but more defensive investors may like that it combines a decent valuation with a beta of 0.3.
Three other large-cap pharmaceutical competitors against Teva are Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO), Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX), and Allergan (NYSE: AGN). Allergan has a number of cosmetics-related medical products, and high expectations for this industry have allowed the company to trade at a trailing P/E of 27. Earnings were up 20% in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago, with analyst optimism bringing the forward P/E down to 19. Novo Nordisk and Forest also have relatively high earnings multiples, generally in the 20s: their forward P/Es, specifically, are in the 22-24 range. Forest has been seeing much lower revenue and income; we don’t think that it is a good buy, especially compared to the much cheaper Teva and Watson. Novo Nordisk’s sales and net income were both 20%-30% higher in its most recent quarterly report than what the company made in the second quarter of 2011.
All three of those peers have such higher multiples that we don’t think they make good values. Watson and Teva have also been getting good growth on a historical basis; as long as they manage to deliver future earnings in line with analyst targets, they seem like better picks based on their cheaper price tags.
This article is written by Matt Doiron and edited by Meena Krishnamsetty. They don't own shares in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.If you have questions about this post or the Fool’s blog network, click here for information.
