Hello Friends! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice! As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on this website.
It is Friday and we have all made it through another week! I haven't been writing up too many new ideas on the blog and I wanted to take a moment to write up a name that I have visited in the past, Wipro (WIT). I do not own any shares of Wipro directly, but my stock club does own some shares of this company.
I was looking through the list of top % gainers on the NYSE this evening and noticed that Wipro Ltd (WIT) had made the list closing at $16.08, up $.78 or 5.10% on the day. I first reviewed Wipro on Stock Picks Bob's Advice on October 4, 2004, almost three years ago (!) when the stock was trading at $20.86. WIT split 2:1 on September 2, 2005, making my effective pick price actually $10.43. With the stock closing at $16.08, this represents a gain of $5.65 or 54.2% since my original post.
Let's take another look at Wipro and I will explain why
WIPRO (WIT) IS RATED A BUY
What exactly does this company do?
According to the Yahoo "Profile" on Wipro (WIT), the company
"...together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) services and products, including business process outsourcing services (BPO) worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Global IT Services and Products, India and Asia Pac IT Services and Products, and Consumer Care and Lighting. The Global IT Services and Products segment offers IT consulting, custom application design, development, re-engineering and maintenance, systems integration, package implementation, technology infrastructure outsourcing, and research and development services in the areas of hardware and software design. It also provides BPO services, which include customer interaction services, finance and accounting services, and process improvement services for repetitive processes."
This company is an India-based technology outsourcing firm.
How did they do in the latest quarter reported?
On April 19, 2007, Wipro reported 4th quarter 2007 results. For the quarter ended March 31, 2007, total revenue was Rs (rupees) 149.43 billion ($3.47 billion), a 41% over the same period last year. Net income was Rs 29.17 ($677 million) a 44% increase over the same quarter the prior year. These results beat analysts expectations.
What about longer-term results?
Looking at the Morningstar.com "5-Yr Restated" financials on WIT, we can see that the company has been steadily, and strongly growing its revenue from $702 million in 2002 to $2.4 billion in 2006. Earnings which were $.13/share in 2002, stayed flat at $13 in 2003, then steadily increased to $.32/share in 2006. The total shares has been essentially stable with 1.39 billion reported in 2002, increasing to 1.41 billion in 2006 and 1.43 billion in the trailing twelve months.
Free cash flow has been positive and growing with $145 million reported in 2004, $276 million in 2005, and $287 million in 2006. The balance sheet appears solid with $878.2 million in cash, which by itself can cover both the $473 million in current liabilities and the negligible $11.7 million in long-term debt, and still leave almost $400 million in cash available! Calculating the current ratio, we find Wipro with a total of $1,609.4 million in total current assets, which, when compared to the $473 million in current liabilities yields a current ratio of 3.4.
What about some valuation numbers?
Looking at Yahoo "Key Statistics" on Wipro, we can see that this is a large cap stock with a market capitalization of $23.46 billion. The trailing p/e is a moderate 32.16 with a forward p/e (fye 31-Mar-09) estimated at 23.30. The PEG comes in at a very reasonable 1.00. The price/sales is a bit rich at 6.04 but I don't have any industry comparisons to truly value this number.
In terms of profitability, according to the Fidelity.com eresearch website, the company does well relative to similar companies with a Return on Equity (TTM) of 34.39% compared to the industry average of 28.42%.
Finishing up with yahoo, we can see that there are 1.46 billion shares outstanding with only 270.6 million that float. As of 4/10/07, there were 2.74 million shares out short representing 7.5 trading days of volume.
The company currently pays a forward dividend of $.12/share yielding 0.85. The last stock split was, as noted, a 2:1 split on 9/2/05.
What does the chart look like?
Let's take a look at the "point & figure" chart on Wipro from StockCharts.com. We can see that after an initial decline from $7.00 in March, 2002, to a low of $3.00 in May, 2003, the company has been moving in a 'saw-tooth' pattern steadily higher to a level of $18 in February, 2007. The stock, at $16.08, is technically still moving higher with no evidence of a breakdown in the price appreciation pattern.
Summary: What do I think about the stock?
Avoiding any political implications of outsourcing (avoiding politics is always difficult for me!), this has been a great stock pick for me as the firm continues to show strong revenue and earnings growth along with price appreciation!
Reviewing a few of the pieces of information reviewed, the stock was moving sharply higher today, the latest quarter beat expectations with strong revenue and earnings growth. The company has been growing steadily the last 4 years with rather rapid increases in both revenue and earnings while still keeping a fairly steady hand on the outstanding shares. Free cash flow is positive and growing. And the balance sheet is solid. There really is little not to like about the company.
Thanks again for visiting my blog! I hope that you all have a nice weekend and if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.
Bob