The exercise will probably be considered futile by some, but it is also an opportunity to revisit files that present interesting characteristics, or even to discover new ones. So here’s a selection of stocks that analysts currently love, or at least that no one hates.
We used the Zonebourse Stock Screener to identify European mid-to-large capitalization files which currently benefit from 100% positive opinions from the analysts who follow them. Here are the settings used:
- Capitalization greater than $5 billion
- Opinion of analysts in the last upper decile (to have popular companies)
- Analyst coverage in the last top decile (to have companies followed by at least six analysts)
- Exclusion of companies displaying a neutral or negative review or more
Six files meet these criteria:
The former subsidiary of Fortis is one of the leading insurance groups in the Netherlands, based in Utrecht. The group offers a full range of life and non-life insurance products, as well as banking and asset management services. ASR, which only operates in the Netherlands, has not performed particularly well on the stock market in recent years, but offers a higher than average return.
- DSV (15 positive reviews out of 15 / 3.5 stars Zonebourse)
The Danish group is a specialist in logistics and transport, in air, sea and road freight. It also offers tailor-made logistics solutions. Thanks to a series of strategic acquisitions, DSV has established itself as one of the major players in the sector globally, with a presence in more than 80 countries. Its latest external growth operation, the acquisition of Schenker, the logistics division of Deutsche Bahn, allows it to change dimension. Before that, the company was already ranked second in the aviation sector and third in the maritime sector globally.
The Lombard bank, as its name suggests, specializes in banking and financial services, including wealth management, insurance and investment funds. Distribution is ensured by a proprietary network of financial advisors. Its creation was encouraged, at the end of the last century, by the business relations established between Ennio Doris and Silvio Berlusconi, whose family still holds 30% of the bank’s capital.
- Ebro Foods (9 positive reviews out of 9 / 4.5 stars Zonebourse)
The Spanish company has become an international player in pasta (21% of revenues) and rice (79% of revenues), starting from a modest local establishment. It is notably the owner of the Panzani brand, but also the world’s largest producer of rice, in particular via its Taureau Ailé brand. The United States represents 31% of its sales, ahead of Europe (42%) and the rest of the world. The file is characterized by a modest PER and a solid return, for relatively high margins for the food sector.
- Trigano (8 positive reviews out of 8 / 4.5 stars Zonebourse)
The French company specializes in the design, manufacture and marketing of leisure vehicles, mainly motorhomes, caravans and associated equipment. Trigano regularly appears in the rankings of mid-sized nuggets, even if its stock market performance has not lived up to expectations in recent years. This remains a quality file in an oligopolistic sector.
The Swiss industrialist, more than two hundred years old, is a key player in fluid transport pipes, on which it recently refocused by selling its machine tool business and buying the Finnish Uponor. Goerg Fischer, with his hat as a pure player and European number one in fluids, seduces analysts despite a valuation that is fairly typical of Swiss industry, that is to say quite high.
- GTT (6 positive reviews out of 6 / 5 stars Zonebourse)
The French company is a niche quasi-monopoly. The group provides containment systems for the transport and storage of liquefied natural gas, a sector that is on the rise. It is the preferred partner of shipyards building large gas transport vessels. Its thick order book offers at least two years of visibility in advance, on activities offering high margins: the net margin should exceed 50% for the financial year which has just ended and the two following ones!
