Look past banks for steady Finance gains

Article Excerpt

Most banks are writing off fewer mortgages and other loans, but low interest rates continue to dampen their profits. At the same time, rising competition is making it harder to attract new depositors. We feel the best way to expand your Finance sector holdings right now is with high-quality non-bank stocks, such as eBay, T. Rowe Price, Western Union and Moody’s. EBAY INC. $38 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $49.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) operates the world’s largest auction website, with over 99 million users. It also processes online financial transactions, mostly through its PayPal subsidiary. In 2011, eBay’s revenue rose 27.3%, to $11.7 billion from $9.2 billion in 2010. Strong international growth pushed up PayPal’s revenue by 28.4%. eBay’s auction websites saw a 16.1% revenue gain. PayPal continues to grow rapidly; the division now accounts for 38% of eBay’s total revenue. In June 2011, eBay paid $2.4…