Topic: Growth Stocks

INVACARE CORP. $23 – New York symbol IVC

INVACARE CORP. $23 (New York symbol IVC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 32.1 million; Market cap: $738.3 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; WSSF Rating: Average) makes wheelchairs, motorized scooters and other mobility and home-care products.

Invacare spends much less on research than Baxter, Bard and Beckman— typically less than 2% of its revenue. That’s because it mainly focuses on improving its current products, rather than developing new ones. Simplifying its products, along with shifting production to low-cost countries, has also lowered the company’s operating costs.

In the three months ended September 30, 2009, earnings before restructuring costs rose 23.8%, to $0.52 a share from $0.42 a year earlier. Sales fell 6.0%, to $434.0 million from $461.8 million. If you exclude an acquisition and currency-exchange rates, sales would have fallen by 2.2%.

Cost savings helped Invacare cut its long-term debt from $407.7 million at the end of 2008 to $320.7 million, or 43% of its market cap. Invacare also holds cash of $28.1 million, or $0.88 a share.

The stock trades at 15.1 times its likely 2009 earnings of $1.52 a share. That’s reasonable for a market leader like Invacare. It should also gain from an aging population. The $0.05 dividend yields 0.2%.

Invacare is a buy.

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