Italy PM Visited Tech Execs: Should We Be Looking at Italian Stocks?

Last week, the Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, visited the top executives at Google (GOOGL), Yahoo (YHOO), and Twitter (TWTR), including Dick Costolo, Marissa Mayer and Larry Page. He also met with the Italian heads of startups.

Comparing the iShares MSCI Italy ETF (EWI) to the S&P 500, you would find that the Italy stocks have underperformed the S&P by over five percentage points. Do you think it is time for Italy to catch up?

Eyeglasses

One of the most famous Italian companies is Luxottica  (LUX), the largest eyeglass manufacturer in the world with more than 80% of the market. The company has even been featured on 60 Minutes a couple times. The stock trades at  33.6 times trailing earnings and 23.8 times forward earnings. Quarterly earnings went up by 11.0% on a 2.1% rise in revenues. The stock pays a yield of  1.3%.

Power

ENI (E), which was lucky enough to get one of the one-letter stock symbols, is in the energy, gas and power, and chemicals industries. The stock has a 12.7 price to earnings ratio and a forward PE of 13.9. Earnings for the latest quarter spiked by 139% on a slight drop in sales. The company pays a fat dividend of 4.7%.

Furniture

A more speculative stock is Natuzzi (NTZ) which make upholstered furniture, both leather and fabric. The stock trades for slightly above two dollars a share. Revenues were down slightly and earnings were negative for the latest quarter.

 For a free list of Italian stocks, which includes the price to earnings ratio and yield, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Ciao!

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written and has no plans to do so in the next 72 hours.

By Stockerblog.com

Is Maserati a Predictor of Italian Stocks?

 

Sales for Maserati sports cars are on fire, with advanced orders tripling over last year. Because of that, the company will start offering the Alfieri.

 So what about the rest of Italian companies? The iShares MSCI Italy Capped Index (EWI), which has a goal of tracking the MSCI Italy 25/50 Index, rose significantly more than the S&P 500 during the last twelve months, rising about 45%, versus the S&P which was up less than 20%.

According to the free list of Italy stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are several Italian stocks that trade regularly in the US, with half a dozen of them paying dividends.

An Italian Company with a One Letter Stock Symbol

One example is Eni SpA (E), an oil and gas exploration and production company which trades on the New York Stock Exchange with the single letter stock ticker symbol 'E'. The stock trades at 14 times trailing earnings and 12 times forward earnings. The company provides a fat yield of 4.7%, payable semi-annually.

Did You See This Eyeglass Company?

Another dividend paying Italian stock is Luxottica (LUX), which also trades on the New York Stock Exchange. This is the world's largest eyewear company, which sells brands that include Ray-Ban, Chanel, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Versace, Vogue, and Donna Karan. The company also owns numerous retail outlets, such as Sunglass Hut International, LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, and many others. The stock has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 38, and a forward P/E of 25. The dividend yield is 1.3%, payable annually.

Telecom Italia (TI), the largest telecommunications company in Italy, also pays a dividend, generating a yield of 1.7%, with a forward P/E of 5.

To see all the other major Italian stocks that trade in the United States, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. The list 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

Participate in the Italian Economic Turnaround with Italy Stocks

Having just returned from a vacation to Rome, I can tell you that tourism in Italy is very, very strong. According to the Italian Economy Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni, Italy's economy should emerge from its slump "By the end of this year." It may be hard to believe, but even with the volatility and ups-and-downs in the Milan stock market, the iShares MSCI Italy Capped Index (EWI), which has a goal of tracking the MSCI Italy 25/50 Index, outperformed the S&P 500 during the last twelve months, rising 23.3%.
According to the free list of Italy stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are ten Italian stocks that trade regularly in the US, with four of them paying dividends, ranging from 1.1% to 4.9%.
One example is Eni SpA (E), an oil and gas exploration and production company which trades on the New York Stock Exchange with the single letter stock ticker symbol 'E'. The stock trades at 11.1 times trailing earnings and 8.9 times forward earnings. The company pays a generous yield of 4.9%, payable semi-annually. Earnings for the latest quarter ended June 30, 2013 were up 21.1%.
Another dividend paying Italian stock is Luxottica (LUX), which also trades on the New York Stock Exchange. This is the world's largest eyewear company, which sells brands that include Ray-Ban, Chanel, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Versace, Vogue, and Donna Karan. The company also owns numerous retail outlets, such as Sunglass Hut International, LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, and many others. The stock has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 34.3, and a forward P/E of 25.6. The dividend yield is 1.1%, payable annually.
Telecom Italia (TI), the largest telecommunications company in Italy, also pays a dividend, generating a yield of 3.0%.
To see all the other major Italian stocks that trade in the United States, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. The list 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

One Letter Companies: Domain Names and Stock Ticker Symbols

Do you realize that there are only six one letter domains that are owned by companies, and five of the five companies are publicly traded?

These companies were lucky enough to register them before December 1, 1993 (or buy them from someone who registered them by that date), as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority put a restriction on single character domains at that time.

o.co and o.info are both owned by Overstock.com (OSTK).

q.com is owned by CenturyLink (CTL). If you go to q.com, it takes you right to CenturyLink's web site.

x.com is owned by x.commerce, which is owned by eBay (EBAY). When you go to the x.com website, it takes you to the x.commerce website.

z.com is owned by Nissan North America Inc., which is owned by Nissan Motor (NSANY), which trades on NASDAQ. However, the website is currently inactive.

i.net is owned by Future Media Architects, a privately held company.

u.tv is owned by UTV Media (UTV.L), a broadcasting and New Media company based in Belfast in Northern Ireland. The company trades on the London Stock Exchange.

Want to know all the companies that have one letter stock ticker symbols? Here they are:

Agilent Technologies Inc. (A)

Barnes Group Inc. (B)

Citigroup, Inc. (C) formerly the symbol for Chrysler

Dominion Resources, Inc. (D)

Eni SpA (E)

Ford Motor Co. (F)

Genpact Ltd. (G) formerly the symbol for Gillette

Hyatt Hotels (H)

Kellogg Company (K)

Loews Corporation (L)

Macy's, Inc. (M)

NetSuite, Inc. (N)

Realty Income Corp. (O)

Pandora Media (P)

Ryder System, Inc. (R)

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) formerly the symbol for Sears Roebuck

AT&T, Inc. (T)

Visa, Inc. (V)

United States Steel Corp. (X)

Alleghany Corp. (Y)

Zillow (Z) formerly the symbol for Woolworth, now known as Foot Locker (FL)

Before US Airways Group was delisted, it used to have the stock symbol U.

Stockerblog.com

Top PIIGS Stocks

The 'PIGGS' are the European countries that are suffering due to current economic woes. The countries are Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain, and the crises that is looming is heavy. Recently, there has been much talk about Greece being bailed out by stronger EU countries, but even that is uncertain. And even if Greece is bailed out, will there be enough funds or even enough interest in bailing out Spain or Italy, with a much greater amount of sovereign debt outstanding?

But if the bailouts come through, the economies will come through, and the stocks in those countries should do well. So if you are a real contrarian, here are some stocks worth taking a look at.

PORTUGAL

Portugal Telecom SGPS SA (PT), is the largest telecom company in Portugal.


ITALY

Benetton Group SpA (BNGPY.PK) makes and sells fashion clothing for men, women, and children. Some of the brands include Playlife, Killer Loop , United Colors of Benetton, Undercolors, and Sisley brands.

Eni SpA (E) is lucky enough to hold one of the one-letter stock ticker symbols. The company is involved in the oil and gas business, electrical generation, petrochemicals, and oilfield services.

Fiat SPA ADS (FIATY.PK), the famous Italian automobile manufacturer, trades on the New York Stock Exchange.

Luxottica Group SpA (LUX) makes and sells high quality eyeglass frames and sunglasses, including such brands as Ray-Ban, Vogue, Luxottica, Chanel, Prada, Versace, Bulgari, DKNY, Brooks Brothers and Anne Klein.

Natuzzi SpA (NTZ) makes and sells fabric and leather furniture which is sold in Europe and the United States.

Telecom Italia (TI), an NYSE traded company that provides telecommunications services in Italy.


IRELAND

Allied Irish Banks plc (AIB) is a Dublin based bank holding company, with branches in Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Poland.

Bank of Ireland (IRE), is the oldest bank in Ireland, founded in 1783, has branches in Ireland and the U.K.

CRH plc (CRH), formerly known as Cement-Roadstone Holdings plc, manufactures building materials, such as cement, asphalt, concrete, and lime.

Elan Corp. plc (ELN) is involved in the development of therapies in the areas of autoimmune diseases and neurodegenerative diseases and drug optimization technologies. They are working on NanoCrystal technology which reduces crystalline drugs to extremely small particles under 400 nanometers.

Genesis Lease Ltd (GLS) is a commercial aircraft leasing company based in Limerick.

ICON plc (ICLR) provides outsourcing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.


GREECE

Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (OTE) is a major telephone and Internet service provider in Greece and southeast Europe.

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company SA (CCH) is an Athens, Greece based company, which is a distributor of Coca Cola products in Europe.

National Bank of Greece SA (NBG), is a major banking institution in Greece.


SPAIN

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBV) is a bank holding company that was founded in 1988 and is based in Bilbao, Spain.

Banco Santander SA (STD) is a bank, asset management, and insurance company with over 10,700 branches around the world.

Repsol YPF SA (REP) is an integrated oil and gas company based in Madrid, Spain. They have operations in Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia.

Telefonica SA (TEF), founded in 1924, is a large telecommunication company providing landline and wireless services, and serves Spain, Europe, and Latin America.

If you like international stocks, and high yield stocks, check out the lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com