Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Investing in Valentine's Day

Have you shopped for your Valentine yet? If not, you only have a couple weeks; it is February 14. Companies involved in the business of chocolate, jewelry, flowers, greeting cards, and gift wrap may benefit from this celebration.

Planning to give flowers to your loved one? 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. (FLWS) could see a rise in sales. It is the largest publicly traded flower seller, but it also sells plants, gourmet foods, cookies, cakes, candies, wine, gift baskets, and other gifts. The stock trades at 14 times forward earnings. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 23% on a revenue rise of 1.9%.

Another beneficiary may be Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. (RMCF), based in Durango, Colorado. The company makes and markets caramels, creams, mints, and truffles. It was founded in 1981, has over 300 franchise locations in 40 states, and a couple of foreign countries. The forward price to earnings ratio ratio is 12, and the yield is a an amazing 4.6%.

Jewelry makes a nice gift. Tiffany & Co. (TIF), founded in 1837, is one of the top jewelry companies in the world, with over 60 U.S. stores and over 100 international locations. A great gift would be the 128-carat Fancy Yellow Tiffany Diamond available at the New York City flagship store. The stock has a forward PE of 16, and a yield of 1.8%.

Don't forget to buy a gift card. American Greetings Corp. (AM), founded in 1906 and based in Cleveland, Ohio, is the largest publicly-traded greeting card company in the world. The stock has a PE of 7 and a decent yield of 4.1%.

CSS Industries Inc. (CSS) markets gift wrap, gift bags, boxed greeting cards, gift tags, tissue paper, decorations, and decorative ribbons and bows. The stock trades at 9 times forward earnings, and a yield of 2.8%.

For more stocks that could increase sales from the Valentine experience, such as candy and chocolate stocks, check out the free lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. The lists can be downloaded, sorted, and updated.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

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