Topic: Growth Stocks

NCR CORP. $18 – New York symbol NCR

NCR CORP. $18 (New York symbol NCR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 157.4 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.ncr.com) is a leading maker of ATMs, checkout scanners, cash registers and self-serve kiosks.

In August 2011, NCR paid $1.2 billion for Radiant Systems Inc., which makes point-of-sale terminals and self-serve kiosks for hotels, restaurants and gas stations. This purchase will cut NCR’s reliance on ATMs, which account for 55% of its overall revenue.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2011, NCR’s revenue rose 16.2%, to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion. Radiant contributed $36 million to the increase. NCR earned $16 million, or $0.10 a share. That’s down 79.5% from $78 million, or $0.48 a share, a year earlier. Without costs to integrate Radiant, earnings per share rose 15.2%, to $0.53 from $0.46.

NCR had to borrow the cash to buy Radiant. That’s why its long-term debt shot up to $1.1 billion on September 30, 2011, from just $10 million at the end of 2010. Even so, its debt is still a manageable 39% of its market cap.

The stock trades at 9.8 times the $1.83 a share that NCR likely earned in 2011. Its earnings could rise to $2.22 a share in 2012. That gives the stock a p/e of just 8.1.

NCR is a buy.

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