Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) is a global investment banking firm whose activities are organized into investment banking, institutional client services, investing and lending and investment management segments. In 2008, Goldman reorganized itself as a financial holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve System.
The price of Goldman Sachs Group shares has reached $26.59, which is 0.8% off the 52-week high of $26.81. Goldman Sachs Group has a market cap of $98.68 billion; its shares were traded around $26.59 with a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.68 and price-sales (P/S) ratio of 3.19. Goldman Sachs Group's trailing 12-month dividend yield is 1.46%. The forward dividend yield is 5.83%. Goldman Sachs Group had an annual average earnings growth of 7.60% over the past five years.
The company recently reported net revenues of $30.61 billion and net earnings of $7.40 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016. Diluted earnings per common share were $16.29 compared with $12.14 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015. Return on average common shareholders’ equity (ROE) was 9.4% for 2016. Fourth-quarter net revenues were $8.17 billion and net earnings were $2.35 billion. Diluted earnings per common share were $5.08 compared with $1.27 for the fourth quarter of 2015 and $4.88 for the third quarter of 2016. Annualized ROE was 11.4% for the fourth quarter of 2016.
Ecolab reached the 52-week high of $125.42
Ecolab Inc (NYSE:ECL) develops and markets cleaning and sanitizing premium programs, products and services for the hospitality, foodservice, health care, industrial and energy markets. The firm is the global market share leader in this category with a wide array of products and services, including dish and laundry washing systems, pest control, infection control products and kitchen equipment repair services. The company has a strong hold on the U.S. market and is looking to increase its profitability abroad. Additionally, Ecolab serves customers in water and energy end markets, selling customized solutions.
The price of Ecolab shares has reached $125.42, which is 1.3% off the 52-week high of $127.06. Ecolab has a market cap of $36.38 billion; its shares were traded around $125.42 with a P/E ratio of 30.30 and P/S ratio of 2.83. Ecolab's trailing 12-month dividend yield is 1.16%. The forward dividend yield is 1.19%. Ecolab had an annual average earnings growth of 11.20% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Ecolab the business predictability rank of 4-star.
The company recently reported diluted EPS of $1.24 and adjusted diluted EPS of $1.25 for the fourth quarter of 2016, which included a 2 cents (2%) currency headwind. The company also reported that solid Global Institutional, Global Industrial and Other segment growth of 4%, along with margin expansion, offset an anticipated Global Energy sales decline.
Weyerhaeuser reached the 52-week high of $34.96
Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) is a real estate investment trust. It is a private owner of timberlands. The company owns or controls nearly 7 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and manages additional timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada.
Weyerhaeuser ranks among the world's largest forest product companies. Following the 2016 sale of its pulp business to International Paper, Weyerhaeuser operates three business segments: timberlands, wood products and real estate. Weyerhaeuser is structured as a real estate investment trust and is not required to pay federal income taxes on earnings generated by timber harvest activities. Earnings from its wood products segment are subject to federal income tax. Weyerhaeuser acquired fellow timber REIT Plum Creek in 2016.
The price of Weyerhaeuser shares has reached $34.96, which is 0.6% off the 52-week high of $35.18. Weyerhaeuser has a market cap of $26.27 billion; its shares were traded around $34.96 with a P/E ratio of 25.52 and P/S ratio of 3.65. Weyerhaeuser's trailing 12-month dividend yield is 3.54%. The forward dividend yield of Weyerhaeuser stocks is 3.60%. Weyerhaeuser had an annual average earnings growth of 1.60% over the past five years.
The company has recently reported fourth-quarter net earnings to common shareholders of $551 million, or 73 cents per diluted share, on net sales of $1.6 billion. This compares with net earnings of $59 million, or 11 cents per diluted share, on net sales of $1.3 billion for the same period last year.
Director Rick R. Holley sold 180,556 shares for $35.07 per share on April 10. The stock price has decreased by 0.31% since.
Aflac reached the 52-week high of $73.53
Aflac Inc (NYSE:AFL) is a general business holding company and acts as a management company. It sells supplemental health and life insurance in the U.S. and Japan, the two largest insurance markets in the world. In addition to its cancer policies, the company has broadened its product offerings to include accident, disability and long-term care insurance. It markets its products through independent distributors, selling most of its policies directly to consumers at their places of work.
The price of Aflac shares has reached $73.53, which is 1.3% off the 52-week high of $74.50. Aflac has a market cap of $29.5 billion; its shares were traded around $73.53 with a P/E ratio of 11.46 and P/S ratio of 1.34. Aflac's trailing 12-month dividend yield is 2.29%. The forward dividend yield is 2.36%. Aflac had an annual average earnings growth of 10.80% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Aflac the business predictability rank of 2.5-star.
The company has reported that net earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 included pretax net realized investment gains of $116 million, or 29 cents per diluted share, compared with net pretax gains of $91 million, or 22 cents per diluted share a year ago. Pretax net realized gains from securities transactions and impairments for the fourth quarter amounted to $114 million, or 28 cents per diluted share and were composed of pretax realized investment gains from securities transactions of $128 million, or 32 cents per diluted share, and pretax realized investment losses from impairments of $14 million, or 4 cents per diluted share.
Amortized hedge costs related to certain dollar investments of Aflac Japan on a pretax basis were $62 million in the quarter, or 15 cents per diluted share. Realized pretax net investment gains from other derivative and hedging activities in the quarter were $64 million, or 16 cents per diluted share. In addition, net earnings included a pretax gain of $70 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, from other and nonrecurring items.
Executive Vice President James Todd Daniels sold 1,400 shares for $72.39 per share on March 31. The stock price has increased by 1.57% since.
Mettler-Toledo International reached the 52-week high of $481.18
Mettler-Toledo International Inc (NYSE:MTD) is engaged in the supply of precision instruments and services. It is a provider of weighing instruments for use in laboratory, industrial and food retailing applications. Mettler-Toledo supplies weighing and precision instruments to customers in the life sciences (49% of sales), industrial (42%) and food retail industries. Its products include laboratory and retail scales, pipettes, pH meters, thermal analysis equipment, titrators, metal detectors and X-ray analyzers. Mettler leads the market for weighing instrumentation and controls more than 50% of the market for lab balances.
The price of Mettler-Toledo International shares has reached $481.18, which is 1.8% off the 52-week high of $489.92. Mettler-Toledo International has a market cap of $12.47 billion; its shares were traded around $481.18 with a P/E ratio of 33.79 and P/S ratio of 5.21. Mettler-Toledo International had an annual average earnings growth of 2.60% over the past 10 years.
EPS in the fourth quarter of 2016 was $5.17, compared with the prior-year amount of $4.44. Adjusted EPS was $5.28, an increase of 14% over the prior-year amount of $4.65. Sales were $709.7 million, an 8% increase in local currency sales, compared with $673.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Reported sales increased 5% as currency reduced sales growth by 3% in the quarter. As compared to the prior year, local currency sales increased 3% in the Americas, 7% in Europe and 15% in Asia/Rest of World. Adjusted operating income amounted to $200.2 million, a 10% increase from the prior-year amount of $182.2 million.
------
This content is originally published on gurufocus.