There’s a lot of buzz on the Street about infrastructure stocks leading the bull market’s charge. Irrational exuberance is what got us here in the first place. So it behooves any one thinking about riding the infrastructure ‘boom’ to remain on the side of caution.
What constitutes an infrastructure stock?
Many point to companies that build roads, bridges, high-speed railway systems, water infrastructure, transportation systems, and green infrastructure.
Here are our top 3 infrastructure buzz stocks:
1. Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN): This $8 billion power solutions company has a trailing P/E of 6.8, 22 percent quarterly earnings growth (yoy), and gross profit of $3.6 billion. The stock has gotten crushed over 41% over the last year, which could be a sign that it’s ready to pop back up.
2. Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM): With nearly $50 billion in assets focused on the property, power, and infrastructure sectors, the first noise you hear from the infrastructure boom could be “BAM.” Brookfield has taken a beating, just like Eaton–falling almost 43 percent in the last year. Fundamentally, the company has quarterly earnings growth of about 84 percent, and more than $1 billion of cash.
3. Jacobs Engineering Group (NYSE: JEC):Jacobs provides engineering, architectural, technical, professional, and construction services to industrial and government organizations. The company has an operating margin of about 5.7 percent, and quarterly earnings growth of more than 35 percent. Another battered stock, shares of Jacob are down about 42 percent this year.
The New New Deal
The New New Deal, promises to fix our crumbling pipes, expand our highways, fix our bridges, and lay a foundation for a new way of life.
But is it just a band-aid covering up a festering wound?
Here’s an interesting video on whether or not FDR’s New Deal was a true solution, or just smoke and mirrors:
Is infrastructure the answer? Only time will tell. But if President-Elect Barack Obama is going to follow in the footsteps of FDR, infrastructure stocks will see some gains. How long those gains sustain is anyone’s guess.