Topic: Growth Stocks

INVACARE CORP. $16 – New York symbol IVC

INVACARE CORP. $16 (New York symbol IVC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 32.9 million; Market cap: $526.4 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 0.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.invacare.com) makes mobility and home-care products, including wheelchairs and motorized scooters.

The stock is down 54% from its July 2011 peak of $35. That’s mainly due to production problems at its wheelchair plant in Elyria, Ohio.

On previous inspections, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that this plant violated some of its regulations. However, these violations are not related to the safety or performance of Invacare’s products.

Invacare also wrote down goodwill of $39.7 million related to companies that it bought in Asia. That’s because these businesses are facing rising competition, which is weighing on their profits.

If you exclude all unusual items, Invacare would have earned $66.0 million in 2011. That’s up 10.1% from $59.9 million in 2010. Earnings per share rose 11.4%, to $2.05 from $1.84, on fewer shares outstanding. Invacare continues to simplify its product lines and shift production to low-cost countries; these were the main reasons for the higher earnings.

Revenue rose 4.6% in 2011, to $1.8 billion from $1.7 billion. If you exclude contributions from recent acquisitions, revenue would have risen 1.7%.

Invacare’s long-term debt of $260.4 million is a high 49% of its market cap. However, that’s mainly because of the recent drop in its stock price. The company also held cash of $34.9 million, or $1.06 a share, at the end of 2011.

The stock trades at 11.6 times Invacare’s forecast 2012 earnings of $1.38 a share. However, the shares will likely remain depressed while Invacare works with the FDA to fix the problems at its Ohio plant. The $0.05 dividend yields just 0.3%.

Invacare is still a hold.

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