#4 - Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) - JNJ has had a bad month of December. Just a week before Christmas, news broke that the company had not disclosed the alleged presence of asbestos in its signature baby powders. The stock plummeted 10 percent in one day, stripping $40 billion off the market value of the blue-chip stock. The company announced a $5 billion share buyback program to help stop the decline. That's the bad news. The good news for the company is that while the news announcement is recent, JNJ has been dealing with these lawsuits for years. They've won some and in other juries have failed to reach a verdict. If this stays contained to a public relations problem, the company will come out just fine. Johnson & Johnson is a solid defensive stock that continues to issue regular dividends. Zacks Investment Research is forecasting the company to report an 11.8% earnings growth for 2018 which will outpace the industry average of 9.3%. Furthermore, many analysts are seeing future litigation risks as being baked into the current valuation. Barring any more bad news, the stock is probably at or near the bottom, which may make it an attractive time to jump in.
About Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.
More- Current Price
- $153.67
- Consensus Rating
- Moderate Buy
- Ratings Breakdown
- 9 Buy Ratings, 9 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $170.67 (11.1% Upside)
