5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Veolia

Updated

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, French waste management and water supply company Veolia Environnement (NYS: VE) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Veolia's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Veolia facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Paris (1853)

Market Cap

$8.5 billion

Industry

Multi-utilities

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$52.64 billion

Management

CEO Antoine Frerot (since 2009)
CFO Pierre-Francois Riolacci (since 2010)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

4%

Cash/Debt

$9.14 billion / $30.11 billion

Dividend Yield

10.2%

Competitors

General Electric (NYS: GE)
Siemens (NYS: SI)
Waste Management (NYS: WM)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 97% of the 873 members who have rated Veolia believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star NestEggOnTheFace, who is ranked in the top 10% of our community, and MizzouEric.

Earlier this month, NestEggOneTheFace tapped the stock as a cheap way to go for growth:

There is a rapidly growing need around the world, and VE is on top of it. Expect water to trade like precious metals within the next 10 years. Love the bargain offered in the stock price today.

In fact, Veolia currently sports a cheapish forward P/E of 8.6. That represents a discount to listed rivals like General Electric (9.9), Siemens (10.1), and Waste Management (12.8).

CAPS member MizzouEric elaborates on the bargain opportunity:

The market leader for water sanitation is currently trading below book value. They do have a lot of liabilities in comparison to assets, however their business is solid, growing, necessary and might arguably benefit more from government austerity/increasing interest rates. I think that governments will be more likely to bring Veolia in to run their water works as they tighten up. This will offset the increasing cost of debt and might even be a net positive force on their net income (which is not even factored into the rock bottom market valuation.)

What do you think about Veolia, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!

Interested in another easy way to track Veolia?Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. The Fool owns shares of Veolia and Waste Management. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Waste Management. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

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