Visa rides e-payment wave

Article Excerpt

Visa has gained nearly 53% since we first recommended it at $76 in our December 2010 issue. And we think the company still has lots of growth ahead. That’s partly because Visa is in a strong position to profit from the global surge in e-commerce and cashless transactions. At the same time, its trusted brand will help it keep expanding in fast-growing markets like Asia and Latin America. Moreover, Visa is a financial intermediary, so it doesn’t lose money if cardholders fail to pay their bills. Instead, banks that issue Visa cards assume liability, set repayment terms and evaluate customer creditworthiness. That cuts Visa Inc.’s risk. VISA INC. $116 (New York symbol V; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 813.3 million; Market cap: $94.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 9.8; Dividend yield: 0.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.visa.com) operates the world’s largest retail electronic payments network. The company processes credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa’s…